UC-NRLF 


REPORT 

of  a  Survey  of  the 
School    System 

of  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah 

ll'il'!! 


2.*"d  by  a  Resolution   of  the 

1  of  Education 


Submitted  to  the  lioard  of  Education 
JUine thirtieth, Nineteen  Hundred  Fifteen 


GIFT  OF 


Report  of  the  Survey 

of  the  Public  School  System  of 
Salt  Lake  City,  Utah 


Authorized  by  resolution  of  the  Board  of  Education, 
May  4,  1915. 


SURVEY  STAFF 

Ellwood  P.  Cubberley,  Professor  of  Education,  Leland  Stanford 
Junior  University.  Director  of  the  Survey;  Administra- 
tion ;  Finances. 

James  H.  Van  Sickle,  Superintendent  of  City  Schools,  Spring- 
field, Massachusetts.  Courses  of  Study ;  Instruction. 

Lewis  M.  Terman,  Associate  Professor  of  Education,  Leland 
Stanford  Junior  University.  School  Buildings;  Health 
Supervision ;  Physical  Education. 

Jesse  B.  Sears,  Assistant  Professor  of  Education,  Leland  Stan- 
ford Junior  University.  Efficiency  Tests. 

J.  Harold  Williams,  Resear<  h  Fellow,  Letemd-  Stanford  Junior 
University.  Progress  of  'piipilg ;  Statistical  Work ;  Draw- 
ings. '*.•  j'\:  .  i'  '-,-'  K:  '•;  i 

Submitted  to  the  Board  of  Education,  June  30,  1915. 


.  •  *          •»••». 
•  V:-. 


LETTER   OP   TRANSMITTAL.  iii 

DIRECTOR'S  LETTER  OF  TRANSMITTAL. 
Mr.  Ledyard  M.  Bailey, 

Chairman  Survey  Committee, 
Salt  Lake  City,  Utah. 
Dear  Sir: 

I  have  the  honor  to  submit  to  you  herewith,  for  your  com- 
mittee, the  final  report  of  the  survey  of  the  public  school  system 
of  your  city,  as  authorized  and  directed  by  resolution  of  the 
Board  of  Education  on  May  4th,  1915. 

The  work  on  this  survey  was  begun  in  Salt  Lake  City  on 
May  10th,  and  finished  on  May  28th.  During  the  progress  of 
the  -work  the  members  of  the  staff  were  in  constant  consulta- 
tion, and  the  nature  and. scope  of  the  report  gradually  shaped 
itself  while  we  were  im  Salt  Lake  City.  Before  leaving  the  city 
the  report  was  outlined,  in  some  detail,  and  formed  the  subject 
o'f  discussion  for  a  number  of  evenings.  As  an  outgrowth  of 
this  discussion  the  conclusions  here  presented  were  agreed 
upon. 

To  facilitate  the  work  of  the  survey,  as  well  as  the  writing 
of  the  different  chapters,  each  member  of  the  survey  staff  gave 
particular  attention  to  the  parts  which  he  was  to  organize  in 
written  form.  Since  leaving  Salt  Lake  City  each  member  of 
"the  staff  has  written  the  parts  assigned  to  him,  the  drawings 
to  illustrate  the  conclusions  have  been  made,  and  all  have  been 
submitted  to  the  director,  who  has  organized  and  unified  the 
report.  The  responsibility  for  the  report  as  a  whole  rests  with 
the  director  of  the  survey,  though  the  proper  credit  for  the 
chapters  written  by  the  different  members  is  indicated  in 
parentheses  at  the  beginning  of  each  chapter. 

In  preparing  the  report  we  have  tried  to  commend  the 
good  features  of  your  school  system,  and  to  use  criticism  only 
as  a  basis  for  constructive  recommendations.  The  larger 
aspects  of  your  problem  relate  to  buildings,  teachers,  and 
finance,  and  these  have  naturally  received  the  major  emphasis. 
It  is  hoped  that  the  report  may  prove  of  much  service  to  your 
board  in  handling  the  educational  problems  with  which  you 
have  to  deal,  and  in  securing  the  new  legislation  which  is  so 
necessary  if  your  school^  ^rg  Jo  make  the  progress  they  ought 


°r 

iv  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

to  make.  A  city  the  character  o'f  yours  cannot  afford  to  rest 
content  with  the  present  situation.  It  is  also  hoped  that  the 
people  of  your  city  may  find  much  in  the  report  that  will  be  of 
interest  to  them,  and  will  serve  to  give  them  a  more  intelligent 
conception  of  the  magnitude  and  intricacy  of  the  problems  of 
public  education  in  a  city  such  as  yours. 

The  rapidity  with  which  we  were  able  to  do  the  work  is  in 
part  due  to  the  courteous  and  helpful  assistance  rendered  the 
members  of  the  survey  staff  by  every  one  with  whom  we  had 
to  deal.  Especially  is  an  expression  of  appreciation  due  to  the 
entire  office  force  of  the  different  administrative  departments 
of  the  school  system,  the  school  principals,  and  the  teachers 
who  assisted  in  the  grading  of  the  pupil  tests.  I  also  wish  to 
take  this  opportunity  to  express  my  appreciation  of  the  large 
capacity  for  work  on  the  part  of  those  associated  with  me  on 
the  survey. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

ELLWOOD  P.  CUBBERLEY, 

Director  o'f  the  Survey. 

Stanford  University,  California, 
June  25th,  1915. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

ANALYTICAL  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


PART  I.     ORGANIZATION  AND  ADMINISTRATION. 

Page. 
CHAPTER  I.     THE  PROBLEM  BEFORE  US 5 

Position  of  the  city — Comparative  isolation  of  the  city — 
Growth  in  population — Character  of  the  population — Percent- 
age of  children — Occupations  of  the  city — Wealth  of  the  city — 
The  city  and  its  needs — Order  of  procedure. 

CHAPTER  II.  THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  SCHOOL 
SYSTEM 22 

General  State  control — Carrying  out  the  State  purpose— 
The  Board's  proper  functions — The  Salt  Lake  City  organiza- 
tion— Committees  and  departments — Right  principles  in  school 
organization — A  proper  administrative  reorganization — The 
public  and  the  superintendent — A  more  fundamental  reorgan- 
ization desirable — Summary  of  recommendations. 

CHAPTER  III.     THE  ADMINISTRATION  OF  THE  EDU- 
CATIONAL DEPARTMENT  36 

Work  of  the  educational  department — The  supervisory 
staff — The  present  special  supervision — Further  supervisory 
needs — The  worth  of  supervision — The  school  principals — Rea- 
sons for  this  difference  in  Salt  Lake  City — The  premium  on 
individual  initiative. 

CHAPTER  IV.    THE  TEACHING  STAFF 47 

Growth  of  the  school  system — Position  of  Salt  Lake  City 
as  to  teachers — Other  bad  features  of  the  teacher  situation — 
The  salary  schedules — Comparative  salaries  paid — Conclusions 
as  to  teachers. 

CHAPTER  V.     SCHOOL  CENSUS  AND  ATTENDANCE 59 

The  increase  in  both — A  school  census  bureau — Value  of 
in  locating  school  buildings — Enforcement  of  compulsory  at- 
tendance— Where  the  schools  are  increasing — Pupils  complet- 
ing the  high  school  course. 

PART  II.     THE  WORK  OF  THE  SCHOOLS. 

CHAPTER  VI.   THE  PRINTED  COURSES  OF  'STUDY 71 

Order  of  procedure — Opinions  and  tests. 
I.     The    kindergartens — The    kindergarten    theory — More 
kindergartens  needed. 


Ti  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

II.  The   courses  of  study  for  elementary   schools — How 
the  courses  of  study  were  made — What  the  courses  prescribe — 
Diversity  in  time  allotments — Pupils  who  cannot  accomplish 
the  minimum. 

III.  The  school  subjects  in  detail — 1.     Morals,  manners, 
and  civics — 2.     The  language,  or  English  group — Emphasis  on 
English   work — Reading   and   literature — Good   oral   reading — 
Where  improvements  might  be  made — Phonics — Language  and 
grammar — 3.     Spelling — Time  given  to  spelling — 4.     Writing — 
The   method   used — 5.     History,    Civics,    and    Sociology — The 
general   plan — Attention   to  local   history — Excellent   features 
of   the    course — 6.     Nature    study — The    printed    outline — Di- 
versity in  kind  and  amount  of  work  done — School  and  home 
gardening — 7.     Arithmetic — Nature  of  the  printed  course — The 
teaching  observed — 8.     Geography — The  course  good — The  in- 
struction observed — 9.     Music — The  instruction  observed — 10. 
Art  and  Construction — Need  for  more  supervision — The  Art 
and  Handwork  outlines — Drawing  in  the  lower  grades — Model- 
ing— Other   constructional   activities — 11.     Manual   Training — 
A  poor  course  of  study — Work  needs  enlarging — Suggestions 
for  improvement — 12.     Domestic  Arts  and  Science — 13.     Phys- 
ical Training. 

CHAPTER  VII.     THE   INSTRUCTION   AND   SUPERVI- 
SION AS  SEEN;  DESIRABLE  EXTENSIONS 108 

I.  The  instruction  and  supervision  as  seen — The  quality 
of  instruction — An    observed    characteristic — The    principals 
and   their   work — The    supervision    of   work   in   the    common 
branches — Promotion  of  pupils — Types   of  examination  tests 
used — The  quality  of  the  grade  supervision. 

II.  Desirable    extensions — The   Junior   high    school — The 
plan  as  yet  imperfectly  developed — Types  of  courses  needed — 
The  Senior  high  schools — Ungraded  classes. 

CHAPTER  VIII.     THE  EFFICIENCY  OF  THE  INSTRUC- 
TION MEASURED  127 

Purpose  of  this  section  of  the  report — Extent  of  the  tests 
made — Nature  of  tests  given — What  such  tests  should  reveal — 
How  the  tests  were  conducted — 1.  The  test  in  spelling — 
Status  of  spelling  in  the  city's  curriculum — The  test  and  how 
it  was  conducted — The  results  of  the  test — Results  of  the  test 
by  individuals — Uneven  ability  shown — Comparison  with  three 
other  cities — 2.  The  test  in  composition — Nature  and  method 
of  the  composition  test — The  results  of  the  test — Children  not 
well  classified  for  language  work — Samples  of  average  com- 
position— Salt  Lake  City's  composition  work — Conclusions  and 
recommendations — 3.  The  writing  test — Writing  in  the  school 
curriculum — How  the  writing  was  measured — Results  by 
schools  and  by  grades — Variability  among  individuals  in  the 
same  grade — Comparison  with  other  cities — How  well  the 
average  child  can  write — Needed  changes  in  instruction — 4. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  vii 

The  test  in  reading — How  the  reading  was  tested — Results 
of  the  test — Variation  between  individuals — The  speed  test — 
The  problem  the  schools  must  meet — 5.  The  tests  in  arith- 
metic— Arithmetic  in  the  course  of  study — How  the  arithmetic 
was  tested — Results  of  tests  in  the  fundamentals — Widely  dif- 
ferent results  in  different  schools — Comparison  with  other 
cities — Accuracy  in  use  of  number  combinations — The  reason- 
ing test — Comparison  with  other  cities  in  reasoning  test — 6. 
Summary  and  recommendations — The  use  of  standardized 
tests. 

CHAPTER    IX.     THE    PROGRESS    OF    CHILDREN 
THROUGH  THE  SCHOOLS 187 

Importance  of  proper  school  progress — Age  and  grade  dis- 
tribution— High  percentage  of  retarded  pupils — Distribution  of 
the  retarded  pupils — Conditions  in  one  room — A  proper  redis- 
tribution of  the  pupils — The  fifth  grade  as  an  example  of 
uneven  distribution — "Repeaters" — Causes  of  retardation — Age 
at  entering  the  first  grade — Other  explanations  for  retarda- 
tion— Subnormal  and  backward  children — Mental  classification 
groups — Children  examined  by  the  intelligence  tests — The 
measuring  scale  used — Backward  children  studied — Feeble- 
minded children — These  waste  both  the  teacher's  time  and 
their  own — Number  of  such  found  in  every  city — The  ungraded 
school — Mistaken  aim  of  the  ungraded  school — Proper  training 
for  such  pupils — The  so-called  ungraded  rooms — In  reality 
"Batavia"  rooms — What  is  needed — The  principal  of  such  a 
school — Ungraded  rooms  for  the  different  schools — Otherwise 
exceptional  children — Typical  cases  found — The  problem  of  de- 
linquency— Summary  of  recommendations. 

PART  III.  BUILDINGS  AND  HEALTH. 

CHAPTER  X.  THE  SCHOOL  PLANT 221 

The  present  buildings — The  school  sites — Size  of  school 
grounds — Waste  of  space  in  buildings— The  result  of  such 
excess — Lighting — Light  tests — Heating — Ventilation — Other 
factors  in  Ventilation — Poor  ventilation  common — Basement 
and  hall  class  rooms — These  should  be  abandoned — School 
desks — Blackboards — Cloak  rooms — Special  rooms — Open  air 
schools — School  baths — Toilets — What  this  table  reveals — 
Drinking  fountains — Roller  towels — Janitor  service — Need  for 
greater  cleanliness — Fire  protection — Quality  of  construction 
and  costs — Repairs — Summary  and  recommendations. 

CHAPTER  XL     HEALTH  SUPERVISION 259 

Standards  for  comparison — Officers  and  assistants — Scope 
and  nature  of  work — Costs — Stages  in  the  development  of 
health  service — The  second  stage  in  development — The  third 
stage — Health  supervision  becomes  an  educational  service — 
Nature  of  the  school  health  work  in  Salt  Lake  City — Stage  In 


viii  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

development  represented — Results  from  the  present  service — 
Effectiveness  of  the  school  nurse — Expansions  planned  by  the 
health  commissioner — Health  conditions  of  Salt  Lake  City 
school  children — Summarizing  the  data  on  health  conditions 
among  the  children — Headaches— Ears  and  hearing — Eyes  and 
vision — Nose  and  throat  troubles — Teeth — What  this  examina- 
tion revealed — General  weakness — Mentally  or  morally  excep- 
tional children — Speech  defects — Malnutrition — Health  work 
should  be  extended — Conclusions  and  recommendations. 

CHAPTER  XII.     PHYSICAL  EDUCATION,   PLAY- 
GROUND ACTIVITIES,  AND  HYGIENE  TEACHING..283 

I.  Physical  Education — Two  types  of  physical  training — 
The  type  in  Salt  Lake  City — An  average  and  fair  example  of 
the   indoor   games — Other   exercises   seen — Character   of   the 
yard  play — Play  teachers  needed — Physical  education  in  the 
high  schools — The  military  drill — Better  physical  training  de- 
sirable. 

II.  Playground    activities — Small    school    playgrounds — 
Larger   use    of   playgrounds    desirable — Vacation   playground 
activities. 

III.  Hygiene  teaching — The  present  course  of  instruction 
— Practical  instruction — The   buildings    negative   the   instruc- 
tion— Summary  and  recommendations. 

PART  IV.     FINANCES'. 

CHAPTER  XIII.     THE  FINANCIAL  PROBLEM 301 

City  costs  for  maintenance — Costs  per  capita  for  schools — 
Why  these  figures  are  misleading — A  real  basis  for  comparing 
school  costs — The  median  western  cost — Where  Salt  Lake  City 
stands — Wealth  and  tax  rates — Need  for  a  larger  school  tax — 
The  remedy  a  legislative  one — Distribution  of  expenditures — 
Distribution  of  expenditures  during  the  next  two  years. 


APPENDIX  A. 

SUGGESTED   LAW   FOR   THE   MANAGEMENT   OF 
THE  SALT  LAKE  CITY  SCHOOL  DISTRICT 319 

Schools  in  cities  of  first  class — The  board  of  education — 
Conduct  of  elections — Organization  of  board — Executive  offi- 
cers— Superintendent  of  schools — Clerk  and  purchasing  agent 
— Treasurer — Superintendent  of  buildings — Superintendent  of 
attendance  and  census — Superintendent  of  health  work — An- 
nual report — Annual  budget — Annual  school  tax — Other 
powers. 


LIST  OF  FIGURES.  ix 

LIST  OF  FIGURES  IN  REPORT. 

Figure.  Page. 

1.  The  elements  of  the  population  of  Salt  Lake  City _.     8 

2.  Age  distribution  of  the  population 13 

3.  Portland,   Ore.,   and  Salt  Lake   City  compared  as  to 

children  15 

4.  Present  administrative  organization  of  the  Salt  Lake 

City  school  system 27 

5.  An  administrative  reorganization  along  proper  lines 31 

6.  A  quarter  century  of  growth  in  the  schools 37 

7.  A  quarter  century  of  growth  in  children  in  school,  and 

in  teachers  employed 47 

8.  Distribution  of  salaries  paid  elementary-school  teach- 

ers, 1914-15 51 

9.  Where  the  teachers  of  Salt  Lake  City  have  received 

their  education 52 

10.  Distribution    of    salaries    paid    high-school    teachers, 

1914-15  53 

11.  Tenure  of  teachers,  as  shown  by  year  of  first  appoint- 

ment to  the  teaching  force 54 

12.  Increase   in   school    census,    enrollment,    and    average 

membership 59 

13.  Age  distribution  of  pupils  in  Salt  Lake  City 63 

14.  Changes  in  the  enrollment  by  grades  in  twenty  years 64 

15.  The    percentage    which    the    attendance   at   the    high 

schools  represents  of  the  attendance  at  all  schools...  66 

16.  Results  of  the  spelling  test,  by  schools 132 

17.  Showing  for  the  city  as  a  whole,  and  by  grades,  the 

percentage  attaining  each  of  the  possible  scores 135 

18.  Results  of  the  composition  test 141 

19.  Showing  the  percentage  attaining  each  of  the  possible 

scores 150 

20.  Sample  representing  the  median  achievement  in  writ- 

ing in  each  grade 1 53 


x  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

Figure.  Page. 

21.  Showing  the  distribution  of  scores  in  the  speed  reading 

test  - 161 

22.  Bate  of  reading  in  Salt  Lake  City  compared  with  tests 

made  in  other  cities _ 162 

23.  Relation  of  speed  test  to  memory  test  in  reading 164 

24.  Distribution  of  scores  attained  in  addition  test 171 

25.  Standing  in  the  four  fundamental  operations  of  arith- 

metic  175 

26.  Relative  accuracy  in  addition 179 

27.  Distribution  of  results  in  the  Stone  reasoning  test 181 

28.  Relative  proportions  of  normal,  retarded,  and  accel- 

erated pupils 190 

29.  Degree  of  acceleration  or  retardation  of  pupils 192 

30.  Distribution,  by  grades,  of  normal,   accelerated,  and 

retarded  pupils , _ 193 

31.  Percentage  of  retarded  pupils,  by  grades 194 

32.  Accelerated,  normal,  and  retarded  pupils  in  one  room 197 

33.  Age  distribution  of  all  fifth-grade  pupils 198 

34.  Relative  number  of  promotions  and  failures,  by  grades...!99 

35.  Distribution  of  ages  at  which  children  enter  first  grade...201 

36.  Actual  and  mental  ages  compared  for  a  group  of  re- 

tarded pupils _ 205 

37.  Percentage  of  children  having  playgrounds  of  various 

sizes  224 

38.  Percentage  of  school  rooms  having  various  areas 226 

39.  Proportion  of  class  rooms  in  relation  to  wind'ow  area 

and  floor  space _ , 230 

40.  The  Bishop  Harman  Photometer 233 

41.  Frequency  of  different  temperatures  in  class  rooms 237 

42.  Results  of  examination  of  children's  eyes 274 

43.  Some  health  conditions  among  school  children 280 

44.  Minutes  per  week  devoted  to  physiology  and  hygiene 295 

45.  How  Salt  Lake  City  spends  its  dollar 302 

46.  Tax  rate  for  maintenance  in  different  cities  compared...312 

47.  Increase  in  expenses  and  children  in  schools  compared...315 


LIST  OF  TABLES.  xi 

LIST  OF  TABLES  IN  REPORT. 
Table.  Page^ 

1.  Size  and  rate  of  growth  of  twenty-six  selected  cities 10 

2.  Composition  of  population  of  twenty-six  selected  cities...  11 

3.  Percentage  of  children  in  the  total  population  corn- 

Dared  12 

r  ** 

4.  Percentages  of  children  in  the  total  population 14 

5.  Number  engaged  in  each  occupation,  for  each   1000 

employed  17 

6.  Assessed  and  real  wealth  per  capita  of  total  popula- 

tion    19 

7.  Assessed   and  real  wealth  per  capita  for  western  cities...  20 

8.  Number  of  pupils  in  average  daily  attendance  for  each 

supervisory  officer 39 

9.  Number   of  pupils   in   average   daily   attendance   per 

teacher  employed,  in  all  schools 49 

10.  Comparative  salary  schedules  in  western  cities 55 

11.  "Wage  scale  for  different  types  of  employees  in  Salt     ' 

Lake  City  * 57 

12.  Weekly  time  schedules  by  subjects  and  grades 76 

13.  Time  schedules  by  subjects  in  twelve  different  cities 89 

14.  Occupational  statistics  for  Salt  Lake  City 121 

15.  Results  of  spelling  test,  by  schools 131 

16.  Distribution  of  results  of  spelling  test,  by  grades 133 

17.  Comparison  in  spelling  test  with  other  cities 137 

18.  Distribution  of  composition  scores,  by  grades 140 

19.  Comparison  of  median  composition  scores  with  those 

of  other  cities 145 

20.  Distribution  of  average  scores  in  penmanship ...148 

21.  Distribution  of  scores  on  2685  samples  of  penmanship, 

by  grades 149 

22.  Results  in  penmanship  compared  for  different  cities 152 

23.  Results  of  the  reading  test,  by  schools 158 

24.  Results  of  the  silent  reading  test,  by  grades 160 

25.  Number  of  words  read  per  minute,  by  typical  classes 160 

26.  Distribution  of  points  read  and  number  remembered 163 

27.  Amount  and  distribution  of  time  in  arithmetic 165 

28.  Distribution  with  respect  to  number  of  examples  fin- 

ished ..  170 


xii  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

Table.  Page. 

29.  Relative  standing  of  schools  in  the  fundamentals  of 

arithmetic   173 

30.  Comparison  of  results  in  arithmetic  with  other  cities 174 

31.  Distribution    of   attempts   and   corrects   in   arithmetic 

test  177 

32.  Comparison  in  arithmetic  tests  with  other  cities 178 

33.  Distribution  of  scores  in  reasoning  test  in  arithmetic 180 

34.  Distribution  of  scores  of  individual  members  of  typical 

classes 180 

35.  Average    score    in    reasoning    test    in    arithmetic,    by 

schools  and  grades , 183 

36.  Age  and  grade    distribution  on  May  10th,  1915 188 

37.  Accelerated,  normal,  and  retarded  pupils,  by  grades 189 

38.  Retardation  in  American  cities 191 

39.  Size  of  present  school  sites 223 

40.  The  lighting  of  Salt  Lake  City  school  rooms 228 

41.  Results  of  light  test  on  darkest  desk  in  32  class  rooms...234 

42.  Temperatures  found  in  class  rooms 236 

43.  Seating,  lighting,  and  toilet  facilities  in  the  different 
schools  249 

44.  Drinking  fountains  provided 251 

45.  Effect  of  treating  floors  with  oil -....253 

46.  Health  questionnaire,  1 271 

47.  Health  questionnaire,  II 272 

48.  Results  of  mouth  examination  of  4363  school  children...276 
49  Comparison  of  expenditures  for  city  maintenance  with 

other  western  cities 301 

50.  Per  capita  costs  for  city  maintenance,  and  per  capita 

and  percentage  amounts  for  schools 303 

51.  Cost  per  capita  for  schools,  based  on  each  1%  of  chil- 

dren  .  307 


LIST  OF  TABLES.  xiii 

Table.  Page, 

52.  Median   and   actual   cost   per   capita   for   schools   for 

western  cities  308 

53.  Maintenance  cost  per  pupil  in  average  daily  attend- 

ance    310 

54.  Necessary  tax  rates  to  produce  estimated  school  sup- 

port   311 

55.  Comparison  of  distribution  of  school  expenditures  with 

other  western  cities 317 


Report  of  the 

Survey  Staff 


PART  I 

Organization  and 
Admiiistration 


THE  PROBLEM  BEFOKJS  US, 
CHAPTER  I. 


THE  PROBLEM  BEFORE  US. 

(Cubberley) 


Position  of  the  City.  It  always  leads  to  a  clearer  under- 
standing of  a  problem  such  as  we  have  before  us  for  study 
if  we  first  locate  the  city  with  which  we  are  to  deal.  By  this 
is  meant  not  its  geographical  location;,  as  that  is  well  known, 
but  rather  its  social  and  economic  location  among  cities  of 
its  size  and  class.  From  such  a  study  of  the  social  and 
economic  position  and  relationships  the  problem  of  public 
education,  which  is  essentially  a  social  and  economic  prob- 
lem, stands  out  more  distinctly  than  it  otherwise  can  do. 
Such  a  social  and  economic  study  we  shall  first  make,  before 
proceeding  to  a  detailed  study  of  the  accomplishments  and 
needs  of  the  educational  organization  of  the  city. 

For  the  purpose  of  this  study  -we  shall  compare  Salt 
Lake  'City  with  a  number  of  other  cities  o'f  its  size  and  class. 
In  doing  this  we  shall  use  in  part  the  twenty-five  other 
northern  and  western  cities  which,  by  the  U.  S.  Census  of 
1910,  were  classed  as  growing  cities  and  as  having,  at  that 
time,  'between  75,OQO  and  125,000  inhabitants.  As  Salt  Lake 
City  had  a  population  of  92,777  in  1910,  and  is  estimated  as 
now  having  a  population  of  approximately  110,000,  it  will  be 
jeen  that  this  group  of  cities  includes  those  of  a  size  and 
class  with  which  Salt  Lake  City  may  'be  properly  compared. 
For  purposes  of  comparing  iS'alt  Lake  City  with  western  cities 
alone,  another  table  of  sixteen  distinctly  western  cities,  all 
of  which  had  25,000  or  more  inhabitants  in  1910,  will  also  at 
times  be  used.  For  all  these  cities,  the  reports  of  the  U.  S. 
Census  for  1910,  and  the  U.  S.  Census  Bureau's  annual 
Statistics  of  'Cities,  provide  good  data  for  comparative  pur- 
poses. 


i;*"      A  ;•  5 r^v? 

6  /-SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

Comparative  Isolation  of  the  City.  One  of  the  most  con- 
spicuous features  of  Salt  Lake  City,  and  one  which  in  a  way 
modifies  its  activities  and  needs,  is  its  comparative  isolation. 
One  must  travel  to  the  east  as  far  as  Denver  before  one  finds 
a  city  of  its  class,  and  to  the  west  as  far  as  Sacramento. 
Within  a  radius  o'f  700  miles  there  is  not  only  no  community 
the  size  of  Salt  Lake  City,  but  within  this  same  radius  but 
three  cities  having  more  than  15,000  inhabitants  are  found. 
One  of  these  is  the  neighboring  city  of  Ogden,  and  the  other 
two  are  400  miles  to  the  north,  in  Idaho  and  Montana.  In 
travelling  to  the  eastward  the  summit  of  the  continental 
divide  must  be  crossed,  while  to  the  westward  the  desert  and 
the  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains  block  the  way. 

Beautifully  situated  on  a  rising  slope  between  the  Wa- 
satch  and  the  Oquirrh  ranges  of  mountains,  in  a  country  rich 
in  mineral  and  agricultural  resources  and  in  a  valley  of  great 
fertility,  with  the  state  university  and  the  state  capitol  with- 
in its  bounds,  the  city  stands  as  the  mineral,  agricultural,  po- 
litical, financial,  social,  and  educational  center  of  the  state, 
and,  to  a  large  degree,  of  the  inter-mountain  plateau  as  well 
Blessed  with  a  fine  climate,  plenty  o'f  good  water,  abundant 
sunshine,  good  educational  facilities,  and  a  progressive  peo- 
ple, the  city  has  attracted  to  itself  a  population  of  good  char- 
acter and  great  virility,  and  one  which  has  made  for  the  city 
a  somewhat  independent  position  along  social,  educational, 
financial,  and  industrial  lines.  Forced  to  depend  largely  upon 
itsel'f,  the  city  has  developed  in  a  small  way  into  a  manu- 
facturing and  producing  center  of  some  local  importance. 
The  mining  industry  tributary  to  it  is  of  large  commercial 
value,  and  is  destined  to  remain  such  for  a  long  time  to  come. 
But,  notwithstanding  these  developments,  the  city  is  essen- 
tially a  home  city,  its  population  consisting  very  largely  of  a 
substantial  middle  class  of  the  home-building  and  home-own- 
ing type,  interested  in  good  government,  good  schools,  and  the 
promotion  of  the  home. 


THE  PROBLEM  BEFORE  US  7 

Growth  in  population.  The  growth  of  the  city  within 
the  past  quarter  century  has  been  very  rapid.  This  may  be 
seen  from  the  following  tabular  statement. 


Per  Cent  of  Increase 

Year.  Population.  During  Period. 

1880  20,768 

1890  44,843  115.9  % 

1900  53,531  19.4  % 

1910  92,777  73.3  % 

1915  110,000* 

•Estimate  for  July  1,  1915. 

Among  the  cities  of  its  size  and  class  it  was  exceeded 
in  rate  of  growth,  from  1900  to  1910,  by  but  three  of  the 
twenty-five  cities  we  shall  use  ifor  comparative  purposes,  as 
may  be  seen  from  the  following  table. 


8  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

TABLE  NO.  1. 

SIZE   AND   KATE   OF   GROWTH    OF   TWENTY-SIX    SB- 
LECTED  CITIES'.* 


City. 

Population 
1910 

Rate  of  Increase 
1900-1910 

1.     Troy,  N.  Y  

76,813 

26.6  % 

2.     Somerville,  Mass  
3.     Duluth,   Minn  

77,936 
78,466 

25.3  % 
48.1  % 

4.     Youngstown,  Ohio  
5.     Yonkers    N.  Y 

79,066 
79803 

76.2  %  + 
66.5  % 

6.     Kansas  City,  Kan  
7.     Tacoma,  Wash  
8.     Lawrence,  Mass  
9.     Des,  Moines,  la  
10.     Springfield,  Mass  
11.     Lynn,  Mass  
12.    Salt  Lake  City,  Ut.... 
13.     Camden,  N.  J 

82,331 
83,743 
85,892 
86,368 
88,926 
89,336 
92,777 
94538 

60.1  % 
122.0  %f 
37.3  % 
39.0  % 
43.3  % 
30.4  % 
73.3  % 
24  5  % 

14.     Reading,  Pa. 

96071 

217  % 

15.     New  Bedford,  Mass.... 
16.     Trenton,  N.  J  
17.     Hartford,  Conn  
18.     Albany,  N.  Y  

96,652 
96,815 
98,915 
100,253 

54.8  % 
32.1  % 
23.9  % 
65  % 

19.     Bridgeport,  'Conn  
20.     Spokane,  Wash  
21.     Cambridge,  Mass  
22.     Lowell,  Mass  
23.     Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 
24.     Dayton,  Ohio  
25.     Fall  River,  Mass  
26.     Omaha,  Neb  

102,054 
104,402 
104,839 
106,294 
112,571 
116,577 
119,295 
124,096 

43.7  % 
183.3  %J- 
14.1  % 
11.9  % 
28.6  % 
36.6  % 
13.8  % 
21.0  % 

*This  table  contains  every  northern  and  western  city  which  in  1910 
had  between  75,000  and  125,000  inhabitants,  and  which  had  increased 
in  population  during  the  preceding  decade. 

Of  the  distinctively  western  cities,  with  which  Salt  Lake 
City  will  also  be  compared  for  items  of  expense,  only  the  Pa- 
cific coast  cities  exceed  Salt  Lake  City  in  rate  of  growth  from 
1900  to  1910. 


THE  PROBLEM  BEFORE  US  9 

This  means  that  Salt  Lake  City  was  among  the  few  most 
rapidly  growing  American  cities  during  the  period.  Averaged 
over  the  entire  ten  years  from  1900  to  1910  the  increase  was 
equal  to  11.2  persons  per  day.  As  the  rate  o'f:  growth,  judged 
by  the  number  of  children  in  the  schools,  was  more  rapid 
toward  the  end  of  the  period  than  during  the  earlier  part 
of  it,  the  rate  toward  the  latter  part  of  the  period  must  have 
been  at  least  as  high  as  fifteen  persons  per  day.  The  increase 
in  the  number  of  children  in  school  would  indicate  that  a 
growth  at  least  as  rapid  as  this  still  continues. 

Character  of  the  Population.  Ini  character  the  population 
is  mostly  of  excellent  racial  stock.  Figure  1  shows  that  78 
out  of  every  100  persons  in  the  city,  in  1910,  were  born  in  the 
United  States,  and  41  out  of  every  100  were  born  of  parents 
both  of  whom  also  were  born  here.  This  is  about  average  for 
all  northern  and  western  cities,  being  higher  than  in  the  man- 
ufacturing centers  of  the  east  and  lower  than  in  the  resi- 
dential cities  of  the  West.  Of  the  21.0  %  who  were  of  for- 
eign birth,  it  will  be  noticed  that  9.3  per  cent  came  from  Eng- 
lish-speaking lands,  leaving  but  11.8  per  cent  from  non-Eng- 
lish-speaking countries.  Three-fourths  of  these  were  from  Ger- 
man, Austrian,  or  Scandinavian  countries.  But  1.1  per  cent 
were,  at  that  time,  from  countries  to  the  south  and  east  of 
Europe  (Italians,  Greeks,  the  Balkan  States,  Armenia,  Turkey) 
and  but  eight-tenths  of  1  per  cent  were  of  the  negro  race.  The 
miscellaneous  group  included  but  few  Orientals. 

This  means  that  the  city,  in  1910,  had  a  particularly  select 
class  of  people,  with  no  serious  educational  or  social  problem 
arising  from  the  presence  of  a  large  number  o'f  foreign  born, 
Orientals  or  negroes.  Coming  from  countries  where  primary 
education  has  long  prevailed,  the  number  of  illiterates  in  the 
population  is  naturally  low.  The  average  for  the  city  in  1910 
was  1.6  per  cent,  as  against  7.7  per  cent  for  the  United  States 
as  a  whole,  and  6.9  per  cent  for  the  Mountain  States.  The 
foreign-born  element  showed  an  illiteracy  of  4.4  per  cent,  and 
the  native  born  but  0.25  per  cent,  with  most  of  this  among 
the  few  negroes. 


10 


SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 


The  number  o£  foreign  born  from  the  south  and  east  of 
Europe  has  since  increased,  both  in  actual  numbers  and  in 
percentage  of  the  total  population,  and  their  settlement  largely 
in  that  part  of  the  city  lying  along  the  railroad  tracks  is  eer- 


NATIVE   BORN, 

OF  NATIVE  PARENTS 


41.1$ 


NATIVE  BORN, 

ONE  OR  BOTH  PARENTS 
FOREIGN 


37.0% 


FIG.    1.       THE    ELEMENTS    OF    THE    POPULATION    OF 
SALT  LAKE  CITY. 

tain  to  develop  there  what  will  in  time  become  a  serious  educa- 
tional and  social  problem.  In  a  sense  it  has  already  become 
such.  With  the  marked  turn  of  immigration  from  the  north 
and  west  of  Europe  to  the  countries  to  the  south  and  east, 
that  has  characterized  the  immigration  of  the  past  fifteen  years, 
Salt  Lake  City  cannot  hope  to  escape  receiving  an  increasing 


THE  PROBLEM  BEFORE  US 


11 


percentage  of  these  more  poorly  educated  and  less  well  de- 
veloped racial  stocks. 

The  following  table  compares  Salt  Lake  City  with  other 
cities  of  its  size  and  class  in  the  matter  of  the  elements  of 
its  population. 

TABLE  NO.  2. 

COMPOSITION  OP  THE  POPULATION  OP  26  SELECTED 

CITIES. 


City 

Percentage  of  the  Whole  Who  Are 

Foreign 
Born 

Negroes 

Native 
Born  of 
Native 
Parents 

Native 
born  with 
or  both 
Parents 
Foreign 
Born 

1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 
7. 
8. 
9. 
10. 
11. 
12. 
13. 
14. 
15. 
16. 
17. 
18. 
19. 
20. 
21. 
22. 
23. 
24. 
25. 
26. 

Reading  Pa. 

77.8  % 
62.3 
62.0 
58.3 
52.4 
52.3 
44.4 
43.6 
42.6 
42.0 
41.1 
40.0 
40.2 
38.3 
37.1 
36.2 
32.4 
31.4 
27.1 
26.6 
24.4 
19.7 
19.5 
19.4 
13.6 
13.3 

12.2  % 
22.3 
21.9 
17.8 
24.5 
26.1 
36.4 
28.5 
31.9 
37.1 
37.0 
30.2 
32.2 
34.5 
31.3 
38.0 
33.7 
35.2 
37.5 
36.6 
38.0 
40.6 
39.5 
33.5 
37.9 
43.7 

9.2  % 
12.0 
11.9 
12.6 
16.6 
20.3 
18.1 
25.6 
21.8 
20.1 
21.1 
27.2 
25.9 
26.9 
30.6 
25.2 
31.4 
31.6 
33.3 
35.5 
33.3 
39.1 
40.9 
44.1 
48.1 
42.6 

0.8  % 
3.4 
4.2 
11.3 
6.4 
0.7 
1.0 
0.9 
3.6 
0.8 
0.8 
2.7 
1.7 
0.3 
0.8 
0.6 
2.4 
1.8 
1.9 
1.3 
4.5 
0.5 
0.1 
3.0 
0.3 
0.3 

Des  Monies,  la  
Dayton  Ohio 

Kansas  City,  Mo 

Camden,  N.  J  
Spokane  Wash 

Albany,  N.  Y.  
Tacoma,  Wash  
Omaha  Neb 

Troy,  N  Y  

Salt  Lake  City,  Ut  
Trenton,  N.  J  

Springfield,  Mass  
Somerville  Mass 

Lynn,  Mass  

Grand  Rapids,  Mich.  ... 
Youngstown,  Ohio  
Hartford,  Conn  
Yonkers,  N.  Y  
Bridgeport,  Conn  
Cambridge,  Mass  
Duluth,  Minn  
Lowell  Mass 

New  Bedford,  Mass  
Lawrence,  Mass  
Fall  River.  Mass.  .. 

U.  S.  as  a  whole 54.1 


20.5 


14.7 


10.7 


12 


SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 


Percentage  of  Children.  In  the  percentage  of  children  in 
the  total  population,  Salt  Lake  City  ranks  high  among  west- 
ern cities.  The  general  characteristics  of  a  western  city  are  a 
marked  preponderance  of  males,  a  small  percentage  of  married 
males,  and  a  small  number  of  children.  In  these  respects  Salt 
Lake  City  is  an  exception,  as  it  has  'but  a  small  preponderance 
of  males,  a  large  percentage  of  the  males  are  married,  and  in 
number  of  children  it  ranks  with  the  markedly-foreign-born 
manufacturing  cities  of  the  east  and  the  cities  of  the  south. 
Only  one  other  western  city,  Ogden,  exceeds  it  in  percentage  of 
children.  This  may  be  seen  from  the  following  table. 


TABLE  NO.  3. 

PERCENTAGE  OF  CHILDREN  IN  THE  TOTAL  POPULA- 
TION COMPARED  FOR  WESTERN  CITIES. 


Percentage  of  Children 


City. 

5  to  15  years 
of  age,  in- 
clusive. 

Under  15 
years  of 
age. 

1  Ogden,  Utah 

20.0  % 

32.1  % 

2.    Salt  Lake  City,  Ut  
3.     Colorado  Springs,  'Col. 
4.     Tacoma,  Wash  

18.5 

16.0 
15.2 

29.6 

23.3 
23.6 

5.  Denver,  Colo. 

15.2 

23.1 

6.  Butte,  Mont  
7.  Berkeley,  Cal  

15.1 
14.7 

23.9 
22.7 

8.  'Spokane,  Wash  
9.  Oakland,  Cal. 

14.5 
14.1 

23.2 
225 

10.  Sam  Jose,  Cal  
11.  Pasadena,  Cal 

13.8 
13.6 

21.4 
20  3 

12.  San  Diego,  Cal  
13.  Los  Angeles,  Cal  
14.  Seattle  Wash 

13.4 
13.0 
125 

20.2 
20.1 
19  7 

15.  Sacramento,  Cal  
16.  Portland,  Ore  
17.  San  Francisco,  Cal  

12.1 
12.0 
11.9 

19.8 

18.8 
18.9 

U.  S.  as  a  whole 


17.4 


27.3 


THE  PROBLEM  BEFORE  US  13 

Distributed  by  age  groups  the  population  is  as  shown  in 
Figure  2.  From  this  figure  it  will  be  seen  that  Salt  Lake  City 
is  essentially  a  community  of  young  people,  there  being  an 
excess  of  children  and  a  shortage  of  those  45  years  of  age 


UfflTCD  STATES         .      SALT  LAKE  CITY 

UNDER    I  5  YEARS 

9.9  % 


ZO.1% 
33.2%  zs  TO       44  YEARS  32.9% 


45    TO    I    64    yEARS 
!S.Z% 


65  YE/^RS 


FIG.  2.     AGE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  POPULATION. 

or  over.  The  U.  S.  Census  figures  gave  4.6  persons  to  a  fam- 
ily and  5.2  persons  to  a  dwelling  for  the  city  in  1910.  Such 
a  condition  should  mean  a  live  and  vigorous  city, — a  city  of 
young  people,  and  with  their  'families  as  yet  young.  Such  a 
community  is  usually  self-reliant  and  resourceful,  and  willing 
to  provide  the  best  it  can  afford  for  its  children. 

The  following  table  compares  Salt  Lake  City  with  other 
cities  of  its  size  and  class  in  the  matter  of  the  proportion  of 
children  in  the  total  population. 


14  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

TABLE  NO.  4. 

SHOWING  THE   PERCENTAGE   OF   CHILDREN  IN   THE 
TOTAL  POPULATION. 


Percentage 

of  children 

City. 

5  to  15  years 
of  age,  in- 
clusive. 

Under  15 
years  of 
age. 

1      Fall  River   Mass 

20.4  % 

32.1  % 

2     Yonkers  N  Y 

18.9 

29.9 

3.    Salt  Lake  City,  Ut  
4.     Camden,  N.  Y.  .. 
5     Lawrence   Mass 

18.5 

18.1 
17.9 

29.6 

28.4 
28.3 

6.     Cambridge,  Mass  
7.     New  Bedford,  Mass  
8      Duluth    Minn 

17.5 
17.2 
17.2 

27.8 
28.9 
26.5 

9.     Grand  Rapids,  Mich  
10     Lowell  Mass.          

17.0 
17.0 

27.0 

26.8 

11.     Youngstown,  Ohio  
12.     Kansas  City,  Kan  
13      Bridgeport,  Conn  

16.9 
16.8 
16.8 

27.9 
27.9 
27.2 

14     Hartford,  Conn  

16.8 

26.6 

15      Trenton   N   J 

16.8 

26.6 

16.     Des  Moines,  la  
17      Reading    Pa 

16.6 
15.9 

25.6 
27.2 

18.     Springfield,  Mass  
19      Somerville    Mass 

15.9 
15.6 

25.3 
26.0 

20.     Dayton,  Ohio  
21      Omaha    Neb 

15.4 
15.2 

24.5 
23.7 

22      Tacoma   Wash  

15.2 

23.6 

23      Lynn,  Mass  -.... 

15.0 

24.0 

24.     Albany,  N.  Y  
25     Troy  N  Y. 

14.9 
14.6 

22.6 
23.2 

26.     Spokane,  Wash  

14.5 

23.2 

TL  S.  as  a  whole  

17.4 

27.3 

The  significance  of  this  large  number  of  children  of 
school  age  may  be  better  appreciated  if  it  be  stated  that,  for  a 
city  the  size  of  Salt  Lake  City  (estimated  now  at  110,000) 
every  increase  of  1  per  cent  in  the  percentage  of  the  popu- 


THE  PROBLEM  BEFORE  US 


15 


lation  between  5  and  15  (the  so-called  school  age)  means 
at  least  1,000  more  children  enrolled  in  the  schools,  30  more 
teachers  to  'be  provided  for  the  schools,  and  approximately 
two  more  school  buildings  to  be  erected  within  the  city.  Put 


FIG.  3.      PORTLAND,  OREGON,  AND  SALT  LAKE   CITY 

COMPARED  AS  TO  CHILDREN. 

In  making  the  school  survey  in  Portland  in  1913,  as  in  Salt  Lake 
City  in  1915,  the  number  of  children  actually  in  the  schools  early  in 
May  was  taken  in  each  place.  Reducing  the  Portland  figures  so  as  to 
give  the  results  if  the  city  were  the  same  size  as  Salt  Lake  City 
(110,000)  we  get  the  above  figure.  The  black  represents  the  children 
in  Portland,  and  the  white  represents  the  excess  in  each  grade  for 
Salt  Lake  City  for  the  same  total  population.  Portland  at  that  time 
had  nine  grades  in  its  elementary  school  course.  The  increased  num- 
ber of  schools  which  Salt  Lake  City  must  maintain  per  thousand  of 
its  population  will  be  at  once  evident. 


16  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

another  way,  Salt  Lake  City  must  provide  50  per  cent 
more  teachers  and  buildings  per  1,000  of  its  total  population 
than  do  such  cities  as  Seattle,  Portland,  Sacramento,  or  San 
Francisco,  and  30  per  cent  more  than  do  Tacoma  or  Denver, 
to  be  able  to  maintain  merely  equivalent  schools.  This  is  the 
price  the  city  must  pay  for  its  large  families  and  its  large 
excess  of  children. 

Occupations  in  the  city.  It  was  stated  on  a  preceding 
page  that  Salt  Lake  City  had  developed  a  somewhat  independ- 
ent position  for  itself  along  commercial  and  industrial  lines. 
High  freight  rates  have  compelled  the  city  to  make  many  aiv 
tides  usually  brought  ini  from  the  outside,  with  the  result 
that  many  small  industries  have  been  developed  which  afford 
employment  'and  contribute  to  the  wealth  of  the  community. 
Sixty-five  per  cent  of  the  factories  of  the  State  of  Utah  are 
in  Salt  Lake  City  or  county,  and  these  factories  furnished  an 
output  in  1914  valued  at  $61,450,000,  and  paid  out  in  wages 
nearly  $10,000,000.  Located  as  the  city  is,  and  with  abund- 
ant raw  materials  in  many  lines  close  at  hand,  it  is  a  natural 
manufacturing  community. 

According  to  the  census  figures  for  1910,  40.7  per  cent 
of  the  total  population  of  the  city  were  engaged  in  some  oc- 
cupation, with  th6  distribution  as  follows: 

Engaged  in  mechanical  and  maufacturing  industries 12.5% 

Engaged  in  trade  7.0 

Engaged  in  domestic  and  personal  service  5.4 

Engaged  in  transportation 4.6 

Engaged  in  clerical  occupations  4.4 

Engaged  in  professional  service 3.6 

Engaged  in  public  service : 1.7 

Engaged  in  extraction  of  minerals 0.9 

Engaged  in,  agricultural  pursuits : 0.6 

Compared  with  all  other  American  cities.  Salt  Lake  City 
gives  the  following  results  for  each  1,000  persons  employed, 
distributed  by  occupation  and  by  sex. 


THE  PROBLEM  BEFORE  US 


17 


TABLE  NO.  5. 

NUMBER  ENGAGED  IN  EACH  OCCUPATION,  FOR  EACH 
1,000  EMPLOYED. 


Occupation 

MALES 

FEMALES 

In  Salt 
Lake  City 

In  all 
Cities 

In  Salt    1      In  all 
Lake  City  I     Cities 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 
5. 

6. 

7. 
8. 
9. 

Manufacturing  and  me- 
chanical industries  
Trade                 

339 

189 

74 
133 
94 
71 
52 
30 

18 

473 

175 

69 
119 
82 
43 
23 
6 

10 

172 

97 

365 
26 
164 
158 
1 
0 

17 

313 

96 

348 
18 
135 

88 
0 
0 

2 

Domestic    and   personal 
service 

Transportation 

Clerical  occupations 

Professional  services  
Public  service  
Extraction  of  minerals  
Agricultural  and  animal 
husbandry 

Totals  

1000 

1000 

1000 

1000 

An  examination  of  the  detailed  distribution  under  any 
one  occupation  shows  that  almost  all  the  industries,  trades, 
and  forms  of  service  are  followed.  Under  manufacturing  and 
the  mechanical  industries  the  occupations  concerned  with  the 
building  trades  predominate,  though  the  machinery  trades 
employ  quite  a  large  inumber  of  men;  in  transportation,  the 
railway  service  predominates;  in  trade  and  the  clerical  occu- 
pations there  is  a  general  distribution  from  clerks  and  stenog- 
raphers to  commercial  travellers  and  retail  dealers;  while  in 
professional  service  designing  and  engineering  work  predom- 
inate. A  rather  unusual  percentage  of  men,  are  engaged  in 
domestic  and  personal  service.  As  will  be  pointed  out  later 
on,  in  connection  with  the  discussion  of  the  courses  of  study  in 
the  schools,  such  a  distribution  of  occupations  calls  for  a  rather 
varied  educational  experience  in  the  schools. 

Wealth  of  the  City.  We  pass  finally  to  a  study  of  the 
real  wealth  of  the  community,  to  see  how  able  it  is  to  pro- 
vide the  type  of  education,  needed  for  its  large  number  of 


18  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

children.  The  best  basis  for  comparison  here  is  the  average 
actual  (not  assessed)  wealth  per  capita  of  the  total  population. 
To  obtain  the  actual  wealth  we  must  take  the  per  capita  as- 
sessed wealth,  divide  it  by  the  basis  of  assessment,  and  mul- 
tiply the  result  by  100.  This  is  the  same  as  putting  all  cities 
on  a  100  per  cent  basis  of  assessment,  and  hence  compares  their 
actual  wealth.  Using  the  figures  given  in  the  U.  S.  Census 
Bureau's  annual  publication,  Statistics  of  Cities  for  1913,*  we 
thus  get  the  following  comparative  table  for  the  twenty-five 
cities  of  the  size  and  class  of  £alt  Lake  City  with  which  we 
have  proposed  to  compare  it. 


*This  is  the  most  recent  issue  of  this  valuable  yearbook. 


THE  PROBLEM  BEFORE  US 


TABLE  NO.  6. 

ASSESSED  AND  REAL  WEALTH  PEE  CAPITA  OF  THE 
TOTAL  POPULATION. 


City. 

Assessed 
wealth 
per  capita 

Basis  of 
assessment 

Real  wealth 
per  capita 

1.     Camden,  N.  J  
2      Trenton  N  J 

$  593.69 
710.43 

100 
100 

$  593.69 
710.43 

3     Reading  Pa. 

553.41 

75 

737.88 

4.     Hartford,  Conn  
5.    Lowell,  Mass  
6.     Fall,  River,  Mass  
7.     Lawrence,  Mass  
8.     Troy,  N.  Y  .    . 

593.69 
771.65 
789.92 
807.67 
825.33 

80 
100 
100 
100 
98 

742.11 
771.65 
789.92 
807.67 
842.18 

9.     Somerville,  Mass  
10.     Lynn,  Mass  

846.08 
848.39 

100 
100 

846.08 
848.39 

11.     Des  Moines,  la  
12.     New  Bedford,  Mass. 
13.     Bridgeport,  Conn  
14.     Yo-nkers,  N.  Y  
15.     Kansas  City,  Kan  
16.     Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 
17.     Cambridge,  Mass  
18.     Albany,  N  Y. 

232.15 
944.12 
944.91 
965.00 
985.60 
772.49 
1063.30 
1014.16 

25 

100 
100 
100 
100 
75 
100 
89 

932.60 
944.12 
944.91 
965.00 
985.60 
1029.99 
1063.30 
1139  51 

19.     Duluth,  Minn. 

54764 

46 

1190  52 

20.     Dayton    Ohio 

1228.76 

100 

1228  76 

21.     Tacoma,  Wash  
22.     Omaha,  Neb.  .. 

742.33 

249.82 

60 
20 

1237.21 
1249  10 

23.     Youngstown,  Ohio  
24.     Springfield,  Mass  
25.     Spokane,  Wash  
26.    Salt  Lake  City,  Ut  

1526.11 
1536.11 
669.77 
589.23 

100 
100 
42 
35 

1526.11 
1536.11 
1666.12 
1683.52 

Average  for  the  group 
Median  for  the  group 

$1038.94 
954.96 

This  shows  Salt  Lake  City  to  be  the  richest  city  in  the 
group.  Compared  with  Camden,  F'all  River,  Lawrence  and 
Yonkers,  cities  which  have  somewhere  near  the  same  percent- 
age of  children  (see  Table  No.  4)  Salt  Lake  City  is  indeed  a 
wealthy  city.  Compared  with  western  cities  'Salt  Lake  City 


SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 


occupies  a  somewhat  middle  position,  being  a  little  higher  than 
the  average  for  the  group,  and  markedly  exceeded  only  by 
Portland,  San  Francisco,  and  the  three  wealthy  residential 
cities  of  southern  California.  This  may  be  seen  from  the  fol- 
lowing table. 

TABLE  NO.  7. 

ASSESSED    AND    REAL    WEALTH    PER    CAPITA    FOR 
WESTERN  CITIES* 


City. 

Assessed 
wealth 
per  capita. 

,  Basis  of 
assessment. 

Real  wealth 
per  capita. 

1.     Butte,  Mont  
2.     San  Jose,  Cal  
3.     Denver,  Colo  
4.    ColoradoSprings, 
Colo  

$  596.91. 
648.61 
563.25 

400.77 

75 

60 
50 

33 

$    795.88 
1081.02 
1126.50 

1202.31 

5.     Tacoma,  Wash  
6.     Berkeley,  Cal  
7.     Oakland,  Cal  
8.     Seattle,  Wash  
9.     Spokane,  Wash  ... 
10.    Salt   Lake    City, 
Utah 

742.33 

822.68 
738.96 
721.24 
699.77 

589.23 

60 
60 
50 
45 
42 

35 

1237.22 
1371.13 
1477.92 
1602.77 
1666.12 

1683.52 

11.     Sacramento,  Cal... 
12.     Pasadena,  Cal  
13.     Portland,  Ore  
14.     Los  Angeles,  Cal. 
15.     San   Francisco, 
Cal. 

1042.03 
1280.94 
1212.40 

880.20 

1193  32 

58 
66 
63 
46 

45 

1796.60 
1921.41 
1924.44 

1930.87 

2561.82 

16^     San  Diego,  Cal  

1051.05 

39 

2695.00 

Average  for  the  group 
Median  for  the  group 

$1630.85 
1634.45 

*Ogden  unfortunately  cannot  be  included  in  this  table,  for  the  rea- 
son that  the  United  States  Census  Bureau  does  not  publish  financial 
statistics  for  cities  which  in  1910  had  a  population  of  less  than  30,000. 

These  two  tables  show  S'alt  Lake  City  as  of  large  per  cap- 
ita wealth,  even  though  the  number  of  children  in  the  total 
population  is  large.  If  the  city  had  the  usual  small  proportion 
6f  children  found  in  western  cities,  it  would  almost  equal 


THE  PROBLEM  BEFORE  US  21 

Pasadena,  Portland,  or  Los  Angeles  in  its  per  capita  wealth. 
As  it  is,  it  must  be  classed  as  among  one  of  the  few  very  rich 
cities  of  the  United  States.  When  we  remember,  further,  that 
the  city  has  very  few  really  rich  people,  we  can  appreciate 
what  a  wide  distribution  of  property  there  must  be  among  the 
population.  It  is  essentially  a  city  of  the  so-called  middle 
class.  This  should  make  the  maintenance  of  any  public  enter- 
prise, such  as  schools,  a  relatively  easy  matter. 

The  city  and  its  needs.  We  have  then,  for  study,  a  rap- 
idly growing  western  city  of  the  best  type.  It  is  a  city  which, 
by  reason  of  its  comparative  isolation,  has  developed  an  inde- 
pendence for  itself  which  few  cities  are  able  to  do  or  feel  the 
need  of  doing.  Its  population  is,  as  yet,  very  largely  of  the 
best  American  and  foreign  stocks,  though  a  change  in  its  char- 
acter is  beginning. 

The  city  is  a  city  of  young  people,  of  large  families,  and 
of  large  per  capita  wealth.  The  pinch  of  competition,  which  in 
most  places  has  led  to  a  somewhat  general  reduction  in  the 
size  of  families,  has  been  scarcely  felt  here.  There  is  still 
plenty  of  elbow  room  and  opportunity.  The  city  has  the  vigor 
and  the  confidence  in  itself  which  belongs  to  youth. 

The  location  of  Salt  Lake  City  makes  it  certain  that  it  has 
a  large  future  before  it.  This,  the  needs  of  its  occupations 
and  its  industries,  the  general  needs  in  our  national  li'fe  for 
good  education  for  all,  its  large  number  of  children  of  good 
stock,  and  the  increasing  number  of  children  coming  from 
homes  of  an  inferior  type, — all  alike  make  it  important  that 
this  particular  city  maintain  for  its  children  as  good  an  educa- 
tional system  as  it  can  possibly  afford.  Its  large  wealth,  and, 
as  will  be  shown  later,  its  low  per  capita  expense  for  city  main- 
tenance, make  it  possible  for  the  city  to  afford  as  good  an  edu- 
cational system  as  is  to  be  found  anywhere  in  the  land. 

Order  of  procedure.  Having  now  examined  somewhat  in 
detail  the  character  and  position  of  Salt  Lake  City  among 
cities  of  its  size  and  class,  we  shall  next  pass  to  an  examination 
of  the  organization  of  its  educational  system,  the  scope  and 
needs  o'f  the  system  provided,  the  school  plant  and  its  needs, 
the  health  and  play  needs,  and  the  financial  problem  of  the 
system. 


22  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  SCHOOL  SYSTEM. 
(Cubberley.) 

General  state  control.  To  provide  for  the  education  of  its 
children  the  State  of  Utah  has,  in  its  constitution,  made  the 
maintenance  of  a  general  system  of  public  schools  a  state  duty, 
and  has  charged  the  legislature  to  provide  for  the  establish- 
ment and  maintenance  of  schools  in  all  parts  of  the  state.  The 
public  school  system  is,  in  the  constitution,  declared  to  include 
all  schools  from  the  kindergarten  to  and  through  the  state 
university.  Certain  permanent  funds  to  aid  in  the  support  of 
schools  are  dedicated  to  the  purposes,  the  general  control  of 
the  system  is  vested  in  a  state  board  of  education  and  a  state 
superintendent  of  public  instruction,  rates  of  taxation  for  state 
aid  for  education  are  fixed,  and  the  separate  organization  and 
control  of  city  school  systems  is  provided  for. 

The  educational  provisions  of  the  constitution  of  the  state 
have  been  amplified  in  the  school  law,  which  now  forms  a  sub- 
stantial volume  of  one  hundred  and  'forty  printed  pages.  The 
powers  and  duties  of  the  state  board  of  education  and  of  the 
state  superintendent  of  public  instruction  have  been  specified, 
in  some  detail;  the  counties  of  the  state  have  been  organized 
into  county-unit  organizations,  under  the  educational  over- 
/  sight  of  county  superintendents  of  schools ;  cities  of  the  first 
and  second  class  have  been  allowed  to  organize  separately 
under  city  boards  of  education,  and  the  powers  and  duties  of 
such  have  been  laid  down  at  some  length;  the  schools  have 
been  made  free  to  all,  and  the  attendance  of  all  children  be- 
tween the  ages  of  eight  and  sixteen  years  has  been  made  com- 
pulsory >for  thirty  weeks  each  year  in  cities,  and  twenty  weeks 
elsewhere  in  the  state. 


ORGANIZATION  OF  SCHOOL  SYSTEM  23 

Carrying  out  the  state  purpose.  Education  in  Utah,  as  in 
practically  all  other  American  states,  has  been  conceived  as 
something  of  such  great  importance  to  the  future  welfare  of 
the  state  that  it  has  not  been  felt  safe  to  entrust  it  to  the 
cities  to  manage.  Education  has  been  regarded  as  a  "major 
claim"  of  each  new  generation  on  the  one  that  has  gone 
before, — a  form  of  debt  which  each  generation  owes  to  the  new 
generation  it  brings  into  the  world, — and  as  such  the  state  has 
not  been  willing  to  trust  entirely  the  carrying  out  of  this 
important  obligation  to  local  governmental  units.  Accord-  */ 
ingly  the  state  has  provided  by  general  law  for  many  details 
of  local  school  administration,  and  has  given  boards  of  educa- 
tion power,  within  certain  legal  limits,  to  determine  the  sums,/ 
needed  for  carrying  out  properly  this  state  purpose.  The 
qualifications  of  members  ifor  boards  of  education,  how  they 
shall  be  elected,  when  they  shall  take  office,  how  they  may  be 
removed,  their  compensation,  the  duties  of  the  officers  of  the 
board,  the  department  officers  they  may  appoint,  the  general 
corporate  powers  of  the  'board,  their  general  powers  and  duties, 
how  they  shall  estimate  the  city  school  tax,  under  what  condi- 
tions and  how  they  may  incur  indebtedness  and  issue  bonds, 
and  how  they  may  erect  school  buildings, — all  these  matters 
are  laid  down,  in  some  detail,  in  the  school  laws  of  the  state, 
instead  of  being  left  to  the  different  cities  to  determine. 

The  board  of  education,  elected  by  the  people  to  represent  (/ 
it  in  the  management  of  their  schools,  in  reality  represents 
the  state  much  more  than  it  does  the  city.  The  state  purpose 
of  seeing  that  its  future  citizenship  is  properly  educated  is  the 
important  thing;  the  city  is  merely  an  agent  of  the  state  in 
the  matter.  The  powers  possessed  by  the  board  of  education 
are  derived  from  the  state,  and  not  from  the  city;  the  state 
can  add  to  or  subtract  from  these,  as  it  wills,  or  it  could 
abolish  the  board  o'f  education  entirely  and  substitute  some 
other  agency  to  do  its  work.  If  the  board  needs  new  or  addi- 
tional powers  it  must  ask  the  legislature  for  them ;  if  its  funds 
are  not  sufficient  for  the  work  the  legislature  has  given  it  to 


24  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

do,  it  must  present  its  case  to  the  legislature,  and  ask  for  an 
increase  in  the  school  tax  rate. 

A  board's  proper  functions.  The  board  of  education, ./ 
acting  as  a  body,  consequently  acts  for  the  state  in  the  matter 
of  school  control.  Since  the  people  of  the  city  are  also  citizens 
of  the  state, — in  the  case  of  Salt  Lake  City  they  constitute 
one-fourth  of  the  citizens  of  the  entire  state, — the  board  of  edu- 
cation also  represents  the  citizens  of  the  city  as  well.  It  rep- 
resents them,  however,  in  their  capacity  as  citizens  of  the  state 
of  Utah,  rather  than  as  citizens  of  Salt  Lake  City. 

It  represents  them,  though,  not  individually,  but  as  a  body,  / 
and  only  when  in  formal  session.  It  is  only  by  formal  and 
recorded  vote  that  boards  of  education  can  properly  exercise 
any  control.  All  individual  direction  of  the  schools,  unless 
such  individual  power  is  formally  delegated  to  the  individual 
member  by  vote  of  the  board,  is  usurped  direction.  For  such 
individual  direction  the  state  has  provided  other  officers,  who 
devote  their  entire  time  to  the  work,  and  who  are  much  more 
likely  to  direct  the  schools  wisely  and  well.  When  a  board  of 
education  directs  the  work  of  the  schools  properly,  carefully 
selecting  its  executive  officers,  sustaining  them  in  their  official 
acts,  and  replacing  them  whenever  they  fail  to  act  wisely  or 
efficiently  or  honestly,  it  renders  a  conspicuous  service  to  the 
people  of  the  community  and  to  the  state  it  serves. 

Whenever,  on  the  contrary,  the  'board  assumes  executive  / 
as  well  as  legislative  functions,  begins  to  participate  in  exec- 
utive work  instead  of  acting  as  a  board  for  school  control,  and 
interferes  with  or  usurps  work  which  it  should  entrust  to  its 
executive  officers,  it  almost  invariably  begins  to  lose  the  con- 
fidence of  those  whose  confidence  it  should  retain.  The  prin- 
cipals and  teachers,  and  ultimately  the  people  as  well,  lose 
confidence  in  its  wisdom,  with  the  inevitable  result  that  the 
efficiency  of  the  schools  themselves  is  impaired.  A  funda- 
mental principle  of  proper  city  school  administration  is  that 
it  is  primarily  the  business  of  the  board  of  education  to  receive 
reports  as  to  conditions  and  needs,  to  weigh  recommenda- 


ORGANIZATION  OF  SCHOOL  SYSTEM  25 

tions,  to  determine  the  broader  lines  of  policies,  and  to  legis- 
late, while  it  is  primarily  the  business  of  the  executive  officers 
it  employs  to  execute  the  legislation  and  policies  which  the 
board,  after  hearing  reports  and  deliberating,  has  decided 
upon. 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  above  statement  of  principles  that 
a  board  of  education  'for  a  city  school  system  occupies  a  very 
important  position,  and  that  upon  its  good  judgment  as  to  what 
to  do  and  what  to  let  alone  depends  much  of  the  success  of 
the  administration  of  the  schools.  By  improper  organization, 
by  doing  too  much,  by  attempting  to  handle  too  many  things, 
by  interfering  too  much  with  the  work  of  its  executive  officers, 
or  by  indecision  as  to  purpose,  a  board  of  education  may.  inter- 
fere seriously  with  the  proper  working  of  the  schools  under 
its  control,  with  the  esprit  de  corps  of  those  who  render  service 
in  its  schools,  and  with  the  proper  carrying  out  of  that  large 
and  important  state  purpose  for  which  they  were  elected  to 
office. 

The  Salt  Lake  City  organization.  To  carry  out  the  state 
purpose  in  'Salt  Lake  City  the  city  has  been  classified  by  law 
as  a  city  of  the  first  class,  and  for  the  government  of  the 
schools  in  cities  of  the  first  class  a  board  of  education,  con- 
sisting of  ten  members,  two  elected  from  each  municipal  ward 
in  the  city,  has  been  provided.  The  term  of  office  is  four 
years,  one  member  being  elected  from  each  municipal  ward  in 
December  of  the  odd-numbered  years.  The  school  corporation 
is  separate  and  distinct  from  the  municipal  corporation  with 
which  it  is  here  coterminous.  So  fully  has  this  separation 
been  accomplished  that  in  the  city  auditor's  reports,  covering 
the  different  departments  and  phases  of  work  of  the  Salt 
Lake  City  corporation,  the  school  department  does  not  appear. 
The  school  district  is  a  state  corporation,  existing  for  the 
carrying  out  of  a  state  purpose ;  the  city  is  a  local  organization 
primarily  for  local  municipal  government.  They  are  separate 
and  distinct  corporations,  though  their  boundaries  and  elec- 
torate are  one  and  the  same. 

The  board  of  education  has  provided,  under  its  rules  and 


26  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

regulations,  for  the  appointment  of  five  standing  committees, 
each  consisting  of  five  members  and  the  president  of  the  board. 
These  standing  committees  are  (1)  Rules,  (2)  School  Law, 
(3)  Teachers  and  School  Work,  (4)  Building  and  Grounds,  and 
(5)  Finance.  A  careful  reading  of  the  minutes  of  the  board 
for  more  than  a  year  would  seem  to  indicate  that  the  first  two 
committees  are  not  especially  important  ones,  but  that  the 
other  three  are  committees  which  transact  a  large  amount  of 
business  and  assume  many  important  functions. 

The  board  has  further  organized  the  administration  of  the 
/  school  system  under  three  separate  and  distinct  departments. 
These  are  (1)  the  clerical  and  purchasing  department,  in 
charge  of  a  School  Clerk,  (2)  the  building  department,  in 
charge  of  a  Superintendent  of  Buildings,  and  (3)  the  educa- 
tional department,  in  charge  of  a  Superintendent  of  Schools. 
A  Treasurer  is  also  appointed,  to  care  for  and  pay  out  the 
school  moneys. 

Committees  and  departments.  As  far  as  could  be  ascer- 
tained by  inquiry,  by  a  reading  of  the  official  minutes  of  the 
proceedings  of  the  board,  and  by  an  examination  of  the  printed 
(rules  and  regulations  of  the  board  of  education,  these  three 
departments  seem  to  be  on  a  plane  of  theoretical  equality, 
each  handling  the  business  within  its  own  field  somewhat  inde- 
pendently of  the  other  two.  The  School  Clerk  works  largely 
through  the  Committee  on  Finance,  the  Superintendent  of 
Buildings  largely  through  the  Committee  on  Buildings  and 
Grounds,  and  the  Superintendent  of  Schools  largely  through 
the  Committee  on  Teachers  and  School  Work.  These  commit- 
tees then  report  to  the  board  of  education,  which  serves  as  a 
co-ordinating  body  for  the  three  separate  administrative  de- 
/  partments  and  the  three  important  board  committees.  In 
effect,  three  separate  boards  exist,  each  large  enough  to  be  a 
board  of  education  in  itself,  and  each  handling  an  important 
division  of  the  educational  work  of  the  city.  To  harmonize 
results  the  three  boards  meet  together  as  a  body,  after  they 
have  come  to  independent  decisions. 


28  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

The  diagram  on  the  preceding  page  shows  the  existing 
form  of  organization,  and  the  existing  relationships.  The 
board  of  education  is  shown  as  large  and  important,  as  it  now 
is.  Below  it  and  intermediary  between  it  and  the  heads  of 
its  departments  are  the  board  committees,  and  then  come  the 
heads  of  departments  and  their  staffs.  The  position  of  any 
person  on  the  diagram  indicates  his  authority  and  responsi- 
bility to  those  below  him  and  above  him,  and  the  connecting 
lines  indicate  lines  of  relationship  and  responsibility.  A  lack 
of  connecting  lines  in  the  same  way  indicates  lack  of  co- 
ordinating authority  or  responsibility. 

i/  Present  organization  wrong  in  principle.  The  inevitable 
result  of  such  an  arrangement  is  frequent  and  long  committee 
meetings,  much  discussion,  and  board  meetings  often  lasting 
until  late  at  night.  The  constant  tendency  under  such  a 
system  of  administration  is  for  the  committees  to  become  very 
important  administrative  bodies,  and  for  the  chairman  of  each 
to  usurp  some  or  many  of  the  functions  of  the  executive  heads 
of  departments.  Especially  is  this  likely  to  prove  dangerous 
in  the  case  of  the  'Committee  on  Teachers  and  School  Work, 
the  chairman  of  which  is  very  likely,  almost  unconsciously,  to 
take  over  many  of  the  functions  that  properly  belong  to  the 
Superintendent  of  Schools  and  to  become,  as  it  were,  a  second 
head  of  the  educational  department ;  passing,  in  turn,  on  all 
the  superintendent's  recommendations  as  to  teachers,  prin- 
cipals, and  supervisory  officers,  and  substituting  his  opinion 
or  the  opinion  of  his  committtee  for  that  of  the  superintendent 
as  to  the  employment,  retention,  and  service  of  members  of  the 
educational  'force. 

The  present  organization  is  not  only  wrong  in  principle, 
but  it  is  fraught  with  continual  danger  of  misunderstandings 
and  trouble.  The  committees  are  too  prominent  in  the  admin- 
istration, and  the  school  clerk  and  the  superintendent  of 
/  buildings  enjoy  too  large  independence  in  action.  An  exam- 
ination of  the  printed  annual  reports  of  the  board  for  a  number 
of  years  past  would  seem  to  indicate  that  the  school  clerk  is 


ORGANIZATION  OF  SCHOOL  SYSTEM  29 

the  real  head  of  the  school  system,  rather  than  the  superin- 
tendent of  schools.  His  reports  come  first  and  are  the  most 
elaborate,  and  he  rather  than  the  superintendent  of  schools 
discusses  the  question  of  finances  and  says  what  he  thinks  as 
to  possible  economies.*  The  present  large  independence  of 


*By  way  of  illustration  the  following  quotation  from  the  clerk's 
report  to  the  board,  printed  in  the  24th  annual  report  (1913-14)  p.  16, 
may  be  cited. 

"For  twenty  years  the  cost  per  pupil  has  been  steadily  increas- 
ing, and  if  the  special  efforts  put  forth  this  year  have  stayed  that 
advance,  and  in  fact  .reduced  the  cost  per  pupil,  there  is  no  doubt 
that  much  more  could  be  accomplished  by  continuing  the  efforts  for 
a  more  efficient  and  economical  administration  of  our  school 
system." 

Such  a  statement,  well  intended  no  doubt,  is  nevertheless  mislead- 
ing, and  only  .serves  to  raise  hopes  that  cannot  be  realized  without 
impairing  the  efficiency  of  the  system.  An  analysis  of  the  tables  sub- 
mitted in  the  clerk's  report  shows  that  the  reduction  in  cost  mentioned 
was  only  made  by  employing  cheaper  teachers,  increasing  the  number 
of  pupils  per  teacher,  and  reducing  the  expenses  for  renewals  and  re- 
pairs. Such  reductions  could  not  be  continued  without  seriously  impair- 
ing the  efficiency  of  the  schools,  yet  the  statement  as  printed  leaves  the 
opposite  inference.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  reduction  in  expenses  by  / 
such  means  has  gone  too  far  now,  and  the  printing  of  such  a  statement*/ 
tends  to  make  more  difficult  a  change  in  the  right  direction.  All  such 
statements  should  meet  with  the  approval  of  the  superintendent  of 
schools  before  being  given  to  the  puplic,  and  only  serve  to  emphasize 
the  necessity  of  having  one  and  only  one  head  to  the  administrative 
system. 

the  superintendent  of  buildings,  especially  in  the  matter  of 
repairs  and  alterations  and  the  employment  of  janitors,  is  also 
fundamentally  wrong,  and  is  certain  to  result  in  expenditures 
which  ought  not  to  be  made,  and  in  the  'failure  to  perform 
work  which  ought  to  be  performed.  That  it  has  done  so  is 
well  pointed  out  in  Chapter  X. 

One  gets  the  idea  from  reading  a  few  years  of  the  annual 
printed  reports  and  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the  board  that 
the  educational  department  in  the  Salt  Lake  City  school  system 
occupies  a  rather  inferior  position  in  the  administrative  organ- 
ization, and  that  it  is  allowed  to  exercise  but  little  supervisory 
control  over  the  other  administrative  departments.  Only  the 
compulsory  attendance  work  is  specifically  placed  under  the 
direction  of  the  superintendent  of  schools.  The  underlying 
theory  seems  to  be  that  the  educational  department  is  a  sep- 


30  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

arate  and  isolated  department  instead  of  being  the  premier 
department  of  the  whole  system. 

Right  principles  in  school  organization.  A  thoroughly 
fundamental  principle  in  all  proper  school  organization  and 
administration  is  that  there  should  be  a  real  unity  in  the 
/  organization  and  a  responsibility  to  one  head  in  the  adminis- 
tration, and  that  the  head  of  the  school  system  should  be  no 
other  than  the  superintendent  of  schools.  Through  him,  as 
the  head  of  th«  school  system,  the  board  should  work.  The 
educational  department  is  not  a  minor  or  a  subordinate  or 
even  a  co-ordinate  department,  but  is  the  one  for  which  all 
the  other  departments  exist.  All  forms  of  administrative 
machinery,  anc1  %11  officers  of  control  and  department  heads, 
exist  for  the  prime  purpose  of  assisting  the  educational  depart- 
ment to  get  teachers  and  children  together  under  the  best 
possible  educational  conditions.  Some  departments  have,  in 
addition,  as  one  '»f  their  important  purposes  that  of  saving 
money  for  the  educational  department,  and  of  deflecting  as 
large  a  percentage  as  possible  into  the  work  of  actual  instruc- 
tion. Every  overcharge  detected  by  the  clerk,  every  dollar 
saved  in  the  purchase  of  supplies,  every  economy  effected  in 
the  erection  or  repair  of  school  buildings,  is  added  money  for 
increasing  the  effectiveness  of  the  instruction  in  the  schools. 
The  only  excuse  for  having  a  clerical,  purchasing,  or  building 
department  is  that  such  may  serve  the  educational  department. 

In  all  well  organized  school  systems  this  relationship  is 
clearly  recognized,  and  these  officials  work  under  the  direction 
and  report  through  the  superintendent  of  schools.  The  board 
then  deals  largely  with  the  superintendent,  and  holds  him 
responsible  for  results  and  efficient  service.  Whenever  the 
superintendent  is  not  able  to  secure  these,  or  to  retain  the 
J  confidence  of  the  board  of  education  as  a  body,  the  board 
should  consider  a  change  in  its  executive  head.  It  should  not 
retain  the  executive  and  take  his  work  away  from  him. 

A  proper  administrative  organization.     A  proper  reorgan- 
ization of  the  work  in  Salt  Lake  City  would  be  as  shown  in  the 


32  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

second  diagram  given.  This  shows  the  position,  relative 
importance,  and  lines  of  relationship  and  authority  which 
should  exist  in  city  school  organization  and  administration  in 
a  city  such  as  Salt  Lake  City.  The  superintendent  of  schools, 
rather  than  the  board  of  education,  should  be  the  central 
co-ordinating  authority,  and  the  work  of  the  board  committees 
should  be  materially  reduced  in  consequence.  The  school 
clerk  and  the  superintendent  of  buildings,  while  still  working 
with  their  proper  committees,  and  still  having  somewhat  inde- 
pendent powers  of  action  in  their  respective  fields,  should 
nevertheless  be  under  the  co-ordinating  authority  and  should 
report  through  the  superintendent  of  schools. 

Directions  given  or  work  assigned  to  the  school  principals 
by  the  school  clerk,  or  to  the  school  janitors  by  the  superin- 
tendent of  buildings,  should  be  subject  to  the  approval  of  the 
superintendent  of  schools ;  school  supplies  should  be  purchased 
only  after  first  conferring  with  the  superintendent  of  schools 
as  to  quality  and  kind  and  relative  amounts;  repairs  and 
alterations  to  school  buildings  should  only  be  made  after 
approval  as  to  nature  and  cost  by  the  superintendent;  and 
financial  estimates  should  be  made  and  submitted  through  the 
responsible  head  o'f  the  school  system.  Such  a  reorganization 
in  control,  if  coupled  with  the  adoption  of  certain  new  rules 
tending  to  place  proper  responsibility  with  the  executive  offi- 
cers employed  by  the  board,  would  materially  reduce  the 
number  and  the  length  of  the  present  committee  meetings,  and 
the  necessity  for  the  board  spending  such  a  large  amount  of 
time  in  serving  as  a  co-ordinating  body  for  the  present  separate 
departments  and  committee  control. 

The  public  and  the  superintendent.  The  superintendent 
of  schools  should  be  made  the  responsible  head  of  the  whole 
school  system.  As  a  matter  of  fact  he  is  really  held  as  such 
by  both  the  board  of  education  and  the  public.  If  expenses 
mount  up  too  rapidly,  if  the  school  accounts  are  not  properly 
kept,  if  the  supplies  furnished  the  schools  are  poor  or  inade- 
quate or  are  too  lavishly  provided,  if  the  school  buildings  are 


ORGANIZATION  OF  SCHOOL  SYSTEM  33 

not  of  the  right  type  or  cost  too  much,  if  they  are  not  properly 
cared  for  and  made  available  when  needed,  if  the  expense  for 
building  upkeep  is  too  high,  if  harmony  among  the  different 
officers  and  parts  of  the  school  system  does  not  prevail,  if 
the  work  of  the  schools  is  not  up  to  standard,  or  if  a  dozen 
other  possible  things  do  or  do  not  come  to  pass,  the  board  and 
the  public  rightly  tend  to  hold  the  superintendent  of  schools 
to  be  the  responsible  person.  Even  in  many  matters  by  law 
under  board  control,  the  public  nevertheless  looks  to  the  super- 
intendent as  the  responsible  party. 

This  should  mean  that  the  superintendent  of  schools  S 
should  be  made  the  actual  as  well  as  the  nominal  head  of  the 
school  system,  and  then  should  be  held  to  strict  accountability 
for  its  successful  operation.  This  is  the  method  followed  in 
all  successful  corporation  control.  This  should  also  mean 
that  his  recommendations  on  matters  which  he  is  supposed  to 
know  more  about  than  members  o<£  the  board  possibly  can 
should  not  be  turned  down,  except  after  the  most  careful  con-  ^ 
sideration.  In  all  matters  relating  to  the  appointment,  promo- 
tion, transfer,  and  dismissal  of  teachers,  principals,  and  super- 
visory officers,  the  initiative  should  rest  absolutely  with  him, 
and  only  in  cases  of  great  importance  should  the  board  reject 
his  recommendations.  In  no  case  should  any  board  member 
be  privileged  to  substitute  a  name  of  his  own  choice. 

No  board  member  is  competent  to  pass  on  such  matters, 
and  attempts  to  do  so  not  only  lead  to  fundamental  educa- 
tional mistakes  but,  what  is  even  more  serious,  tend  to  demor- 
alize a  teaching  force.  If  a  teaching  force  is  to  possess  esprit 
de  corps  and  be  devoted  to  its  work,  it  must  have  confidence 
in  its  leaders  and  in  their  ability  to  protect  them  from  injus- 
tice and  mismanagement.  Whenever  a  board  of  education  is 
unwilling  to  continue  to  place  this  confidence  in  its  superin- 
tendent the  time  has  come  for  a  change,  either  in  the  super- 
intendent or  in  the  board.  Similarly,  in  all  matters  relating  to 
courses  of  instruction  and  studies  the  superintendent  should  be 
in  full  control.  On  no  other  basis  can  he  be  responsible  for  the 
successful  conduct  of  the  schools. 


34  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

By  the  mere  adoption  of  such  rules  of  procedure,  which 
are  based  on  sound  administrative  practice,  the  work  and 
importance  of  the  committee  on  teachers  and  school  work 
would  be  greatly  reduced,  and  every  member  of  the  school 
board  would  be  freed  from  what  is,  perhaps,  the  greatest  an- 
noyance a  school  board  member  is  subjected  to.  To  all  appli- 
cants for  positions,  to  all  disgruntled  teachers  and  principals^ 
and  to  all  interested  friends,  the  board  members  could  at  once 
tell  them  to  see  the  superintendent  of  schools,  as  full  control 
of  all  such  matters  had  been  placed  in  his  hands.  In  placing 
full  responsibility  there  the  board  would  only  be  doing  what 
the  board  o'f  directors  of  any  well-managed  sugar  factory, 
cement  plant,  department  store,  or  street  railway  continually 
does.  The  key  to  efficient  management  lies  in  the  concentra- 
tion of  both  authority  and  responsibility  in  trained  executive 
officers,  and  the  refusal  of  the  directors  of  the  corporation  to 
interfere  with  its  experts  in  technical  matters  relating  to  the 
administration  of  the  property. 

A  more  fundamental  reorganization  desirable.  The  above 
changes  in  organization  and  responsibility  can  be  made  by  the 
board  on  its  own  initiative,  and  without  change  in  existing 
law.  All  that  is  necessary  is  a  change  in  its  rules.  The  organ- 
ization and  administration  of  the  school  system  could  be  still 
further  improved  by  a  new  state  law  for  the  administration  of 
school  systems  in  cities  of  the  first  class.  As  some  changes  in 
existing  laws  are  necessary,  if  the  schools  of  Salt  Lake  City  are 
not  to  be  seriously  cramped  in  the  future,  it  is  possible  that 
all  the  changes  might  be  obtained  from  the  legislature  at  the 
same  time. 

The  desirable  changes  should  include  a  reduction  o'f  the 
board  of  education  from  a  board  of  ten,  elected  from  wards,  to 
one  of  five  elected  from  the  city  at  large.  However  well  it 
may  have  worked  in  Salt  Lake  City,  the  ward  system  is  never- 
theless undesirable  and  has  been  abandoned  by  many  cities. 
The  almost  universal  experience  has  been  that  board  mem- 


ORGANIZATION  OF  SCHOOL  SYSTEM  35 

bers  have  averaged  higher  from  the  city  at  large  than  when 
selected  along  ward  lines,  and  petty  local  politics  and  local 
feelings  influence  the  board  less  in  its  actions.  The  school 
system  of  a  city  is  a  unit,  and  board  members  should  represent 
this  larger  unit  and  not  some  portion  of  it.  So  far,  we  are 
informed,  the  ward  system  has  worked  out  well  in  Salt  Lake 
City,  but  sooner  or  later,  with  the  growth  and  change  in  char- 
acter of  the  city,  it  is  almost  certain  to  bring  undesirable  mem- 
bers to  the  board.  It  should  be  abandoned  now  before  bad 
results  begin  to  be  too  evident. 

The  board  at  present,  also,  is  too  large.  A  board  of  five, 
one  that  could  meet  in  a  smaller  room  and  around  a  single 
table,  and  with  more  board  and  less  committee  action,  would 
handle  the  educational  business  more  quietly,  more  expedi- 
tiously,  and  more  efficiently  than  a  board  of  ten  members  can, 
and  with  fewer  conflicts  with  its  executive  officers  and  fewer 
reversals  of  its  actions.  A  large  board  almost  always  leads  to 
unnecessary  discussion,  and  often  has  to  reverse  itself.  A 
board  of  five,  one  elected  each  year  as  now  and  for  a  five-year 
term,  would  represent  a  better  form  of  educational  organiza- 
tion. With  the  smaller  board  the  present  great  waste  of  time 
in  committee  action  could  be  obviated,  as  a  board  of  five  has 
no  need  for  standing  committees.  Business  will  be  transacted 
better  if  all  committees  are  temporary,  and  if  the  board  acts  on 
the  recommendation  of  its  executive  officers  first  and  finally  as 
a  body. 

Summary  of  recommendations.  The  survey  commission 
accordingly  recommends  that  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the 
board  of  education  be  revised  along  the  lines  of  the  recom- 
mendations of  this  chapter;  that  co-ordinating  authority  and 
responsibility  for  proper  administration  be  concentrated  in  one 
executive  head ;  that  committee  action  be  materially  decreased 
by  placing  larger  responsibility  with  the  board's  executive 
officers;  and  that,  at  the  first  legislative  opportunity,  a  re- 
vision of  the  state  school  law  as  it  relates  to  cities  of  the  first 
class  be  attempted,  and  along  the  lines  of  the  suggested  law 
given  in  the  Appendix  to  this  report. 


SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 


CHAPTER  III. 

ADMINISTRATION    OP    THE    EDUCATIONAL    DEPART- 
MENT. 

(Cubberley.) 

Having  now  located  the  city  we  are  to  study,  and  having 
described  the  educational  organization  which  the  legislature  of 
the  state  and  the  board  of  education  for  the  city  have  created 
for  the  purpose  of  carrying  out  the  state  mandate  as  to  schools, 
we  shall  turn  next  to  a  study  of  the  organization  and  admin- 
istration of  the  educational  department,  and  from  this  pro- 
ceed to  a  study  of  the  work  of  the  schools  themselves.  The 
building  department  will  be  considered  more  'fully  in  Part  III 
of  this  report,  while  the  financial  portion  of  the  problem  will 
be  taken  up  again  in  Part  IV. 

Work  of  the  educational  department.  In  a  city  which  is 
growing  as  rapidly  as  is  Salt  Lake  City,  the  problem  of  ade- 
quately caring  for  all  the  children  becomes  a  pressing  one.  In 
the  twenty-four  years  since  the  unification  of  the  schools  under 
one  city  board,  the  school  census  and  the  enrollment  in  the 
schools  have  trebled,  while  the  number  of  children  in  average 
membership  has  quadrupled.  During  the  same  period  the 
number  of  teachers  employed  has  increased  six  times.  Within 
the  past  decade  there  has  been  a  general  increase  of  about 
forty  per  cent  in  all  these  items.  During  the  past  five  years 
the  gain  in  enrollment  has  averaged  20  children  a  week  for  a 
fifty-two  week  year,  and  during  the  past  two  years  it  has 
averaged  23  children  a  week.  This  means,  on  the  last  two 
years  of  growth,  that  three  new  twelve  class-room  school  build- 
ings must  be  opened  every  year  to  accommodate  the  increase  in 
children  enrolled  in  the  schools.  The  pressure  to  provide 
teachers,  class  rooms,  supervision,  and  teaching  supplies  puts 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  DEPARTMENT. 


37 


a  strain  on  the  administrative  organization  and  resources  of 
a  city  that  is  growing  at  such  a  rate. 

The  prime  purpose  of  the  educational  department  is  to  see 
that  the  teachers  and  children  are  brought  together  under  as 
good  conditions  for  instruction  as  is  possible.  This  involves 
buildings,  lighting,  heating,  ventilation,  apparatus  and  supplies, 
playgrounds,  and  teachers,  of  course,  but  it  also  involves  an 


30.0CO 


FIG.  6.  A  QUARTER  CENTURY  OP  GROWTH  IN  THE 
SALT  LAKE  CITY  SCHOOLS. 


intelligently-conceived  educational  purpose,  and  a  system  of 
school  administration  and  supervision  calculated  to  secure  the 
best  educational  results  each  supervisory  officer,  teacher,  and 
child  is  capable  of  giving.  An  important  test  of  a  system  of 
school  supervision  is  how  far  it  brings  out  the  best  which  each 
one  connected  with  the  system  has  to  give.  In  this  chapter  we 
shall  examine  into  the  sufficiency  and  the  character  of  the 
system  of  supervision  in  force  with  reference  to  its  ability  to 
secure  these  larger  ends. 


38  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

The  supervisory  staff.  At  the  head  of  the  educational 
department  is  a  superintendent  of  schools,  and  to  assist  him 
in  his  work  of  supervising  the  instruction  the  following  staff 
has  been  employed: 

1  Supervisor  of  grammar  grades. 

1  Supervisor  of  primary  grades. 

1  Supervisor  of  physical  education. 

1  Supervisor  of  manual  training. 

1  Director  of  physical  education  for  elementary  schools. 

1  Director  of  art  and  hand  work  in  the  primary  grades. 

1  Director  of  domestic  science  and  arts. 

1  Supervising  principal  of  high  schools. 

2  Principals  of  high  schools. 

28  Principals  of  elementary  schools. 

38  Total. 

One  of  the  first  questions  that  naturally  arises  is  as  to 
the  adequacy  or  inadequacy  of  this  force.  One  method  of 
answering  this  question  is  to  compare  Salt  Lake  City  with 
other  cities,  to  see  where  it  stands  in  the  matter  of  supervisory 
assistance.  Compared  with  the  same  western  cities  used  in 
Table  No.  3  we  obtain  the  following  table,  from  which  it  is 
seen  that  the  supervisory  staff  at  present  employed  is  cer- 
tainly moderate. 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  DEPARTMENT. 

TABLE  NO.  8. 


39 


NUMBER  OF  PUPILS  IN  AVERAGE  DAILY  ATTENDANCE 
FOR  EACH  SUPERVISORY  OFFICER.* 

I.     WESTERN  CITIES. 


City. 

Pupils  per 
super- 
visory 
officer. 

City. 

Pupils  per 
super- 
visory 
officer. 

Onlnrfldo  Sr>rincs    Colo 

208 

Spokane  Wash 

369 

252 

San  Francisco,  Cal  .... 

397 

"Pa  Qofjp-rio    Oal 

262 

Seattle  Wash 

400 

^»aTi  DIPSTO    Cal 

283 

Denver   Colo 

423 

Tlnttp   TVTont 

296 

Berkeley    Cal 

433 

Ogden    Utah 

312 

Oakland   Cal 

445 

Tacoma   "Welsh 

331 

Salt  Lake  City    Utah 

460 

Los  Angeles   Cal 

333 

Portland    Ore 

513 

San  Jose   Cal  

365 

Average  for  the  group  . 

354 

Median  for  the  group  .  . 

365 

II.     EASTERN  AND  MIDDLE-WESTERN  CITIES. 


Pupils  per 

Pupils  per 

City. 

super- 
visory 

City. 

super- 
visory 

officer. 

officer. 

Trenton    N   J 

182 

Albany  N  Y 

372 

Troy  NY.. 

227 

Duluth,  Minn 

381 

New  Bedford  Mass 

269 

Omaha   Neb 

400 

Des  Moines    Iowa 

291 

Yonkers   N  Y 

445 

Youngstown   Ohio 

341 

Dayto'n,  Ohio     .  . 

446 

Grand  Rapids,  Mich.  .  . 

359 

Salt  Lake  City,  Utah.. 

460 

Kansas  City,  Kan  

360 

Springfield  Mass  

464 

Camden,  N.  J.  

371 

Lowell,  Mass  

479 

Average  for  the  group. 

343 

Median  for  the  group.  . 

371 

Data  by  which  a  comparison  with  all  the  twenty-five  cities 
used  in  Table  No.  1  could  be  made  is  not  available,  as  some  of 
the  cities  failed  to  report  the  number  of  supervisory  officers 
separately,  and  some  use  a  group  system  for  principalships 


*This  and  the  following  table  have  been  compiled  from  data  given 
in  the  last  printed  report  of  the  U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Education,  which 
is  the  most  recent  published  data  available,  and  covers  the  year  1912-13 
for  all  cities  except  Salt  Lake  City,  where  the  1914-15  data  has  been  used. 


40  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

which  makes  comparison  impossible.  The  figures  given  for 
such  eastern  and  middle-western  cities  used  in  Table  1  as 
are  comparable  make  a  showing  similar  to  that  for  western 
cities  with  reference  to  the  position  of  Salt  Lake  City  in  the 
matter  of  supervision. 

The  conclusion  from  these  figures  would  certainly  be  that 
Salt  Lake  City  has  too  few,  rather  than  too  many  supervisors. 
If  we  deduct  the  school  principals,  as  being  primarily  building 
supervisors,  we  have  left  one  supervising  principal  of  high 
schools,  who  gives  but  part  time  to  the  work,  two  general 
supervisors  of  grade  work,  and  five  supervisors  of  special  sub- 
jects. This  is  a  number  too  small  for  a  city  with  22,635  chil- 
dren enrolled,  and  with  the  character  of  the  teaching  'force  now 
being  drawn  into  the  schools. 

The  present  special  supervision.  The  provision  of  a  super- 
visor of  grammar-grade  work  and  a  supervisor  of  primary 
work,  instead  of  two  general  assistant  superintendents  of 
schools,  is  a  good  point  in  the  'Salt  Lake  City  system.  By 
specializing  the  work  of  these  two  supervisors  the  tendency  to 
become  office  workers  and  inspectors,  so  common  in  city  school 
systems,  has  been  almost  entirely  obviated.  A  somewhat  care- 
ful investigation  of  the  work  of  these  two  supervisors,  made 
both  in  the  class  room  and  by  an  examination  of  the  work 
which  they  have  sent  out  during  the  past  year  to  teachers,  gave 
the  impression  that  both  these  persons  were  making  an  earnest 
effort  to  make  of  themselves  helpful  supervisors  to  the  teachers 
in  the  schools.  It  was  the  feeling  of  the  members  o'f  the  survey 
staff  that  the  city  was  getting  good  returns  from  the  money 
spent  on  these  two  supervisors. 

The  work  of  the  supervisors  of  physical  education  and 
manual  training  is  commented  upon  at  length  elsewhere  in  this 
report.  It  was  the  feeling  of  all  the  members  of  the  survey 
staff  who  examined  at  all  into  the  work  under  their  charge  that 
the  city  could  do  much  better  by  making  changes  in  super- 
visors in  these  two  subjects,  and  that  in  the  present  super- 
vision the  city  is  not  getting  real  value  for  the  money  ex- 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  DEPARTMENT.  41 

pended.  It  would  be  better  economy  to  pay  larger  salaries  if 
necessary,  and  secure  persons  able  to  direct  the  work  of  these 
two  important  departments  along  better  educational  lines. 

The  work  seen  in  domestic  science,  and  in  art  and  hand 
work  in  the  lower  grades,  gave  evidence  of  good  preparation 
and  leadership  on  the  part  of  these  directors.  It  was  evident 
that  the  directors  of  these  subjects  were  making  themselves 
helpful  to  the  schools. 

Further  supervisory  needs.  The  number  o;f  special  super- 
visors at  present  employed  is,  however,  too  small.  The  num- 
ber is  actually  less  now  than  it  was  a  few  years  ago,  though 
the  number  of  teachers  and  pupils  have  both  materially  in- 
creased, and  the  educational  problem  in  the  city  has  become 
more  difficult.  With  the  present  practice  of  the  city  in  taking 
cheaper  and  less  well  prepared  young  women  for  the  teaching 
service,  commented  on  at  some  length  in  the  following  chapter, 
and  the  further  objectionable  practice  of  pushing  up  the  num- 
ber of  pupils  per  teacher,  the  need  for  good  building  principals 
and  for  plenty  of  good  and  helpful  special  supervision  can 
hardly  be  overemphasized. 

There  is  need  in  Salt  Lake  City  for  the  employment  of  a 
good  supervisor  of  drawing  'for  the  grade  work.  This  work  is 
too  important  to  be  neglected  as  it  now  is.  A  good  supervisor 
of  vocal  and  instrumental  music,  and  a  director  of  bands  and 
orchestras  ought  also  to  be  provided.  While  the  music  instruc- 
tion in  the  schools  was  in  general  good,  there  were  many  places 
where  it  was  not  good,  while  the  few  feeble  attempts  at  the 
establishment  of  school  orchestras  seen,  almost  entirely  due 
to  the  individual  efforts  of  some  principal,  were  only  a  sug- 
gestion of  what  might  be  done  under  proper  direction.  An 
orchestra  ought  to  be  developed  in  each  elementary  school,  and 
a  number  of  elementary  school  bands  also  should  be  organized. 
A  community  of  the  size  and  character  of  Salt  Lake  City 
ought  to  be  developed  into  a  musical  city,  and  a  community  is 
musical  only  when  its  people  as  a  mass  love  music  and  can 
produce  it  in  some  form.  Music  and  drawing  are  very  impor- 


42  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

tant  forms  of  self  expression,  and  self  expression  is  a  very 
important  but  often  neglected  element  in  all  education. 

A  city  the  size  of  Salt  Lake  City,  and  of  its  peculiar  type 
and  location,  also  would  find  a  good  supervisor  of  school  gar- 
dens, elementary  science,  and  agricultural  instruction  a  good 
investment.  School  gardening,  agricultural  instruction,  man- 
ual training,  and  domestic  science  are  all  subjects  of  large 
practical  value,  and  subjects  which  this  school  system  ought 
to  emphasize.  As  will  be  pointed  out  more  in  detail  in  Chap- 
ter VIII  of  this  report,  an  excess  of  time  is  now  devoted  to 
instruction  in  the  so-called  fundamental  subjects,  and  at  the 
expense  of  these  expression  subjects. 

With  the  development  of  the  junior  high  schools  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  city,  part-time  supervision  of  the  work  in 
languages,  English,  history,  and  science  could,  with  advantage, 
be  extended  to  the  seventh  and  eighth  grades,  by  some  one 
designated  by  the  superintendent  from  these  departments  in 
the  high  school,  and  at  little  extra  expense. 

The  worth  of  supervision.  The  whole  question  as  to  the 
value  of  special  supervision  depends  upon  its  character  and 
upon  the  type  of  special  supervisors  employed.  If  the  special 
supervision  is  good,  and  if  the  supervisors  extend  helpful 
assistance  to  the  teachers  and  make  them  stronger  in  their 
work,  special  supervision  always  gives  large  educational  re- 
turns. Nothing  pays  such  large  dividends  in  any  line  of  work 
as  plenty  of  good  brains  at  the  top.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the 
supervision  is  poor  in  quality  and  inspectorial  in  character, 
money  spent  on  it  is  largely  money  thrown  away.  Nearly 
everything  depends  on  the  character  of  the  supervisors  em- 
ployed. Cheap  supervision  is  very  likely  to  be  poor  super- 
vision, but  expensive  supervision  may  not  be  good  supervision. 
It  pays  a  city  to  offer  good  salaries  for  such  work,  and  to  make 
its  selections  from  a  wide  market.  As  a  general  proposition, 
though  not  always  true,  supervisors  from  the  outside  should 
be  preferred  to  the  promotion  of  individuals  from  within  the 
force,  because  of  the  new  ideas  they  can  bring  into  the  school 
system. 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  DEPARTMENT.  43 

In  the  choice  of  all  special  supervisors,  who  represent  as 
it  were  a  part  of  the  superintendent's  cabinet,  the  entire  choice 
should  be  placed  with  him,  and  he  should  be  made  to  feel  that 
he  is  free  to  go  anywhere  to  get  the  right  persons  for  the  work. 
In  the  preceding  chapter  it  was  stated  as  a  correct  principle 
of  action  that  board  members  should  turn  the  selection  and 
dismissal  of  all  teachers  over  to  the  superintendent.  Much 
more  should  this  be  done  in  the  matter  of  special  supervisors. 
A  mistake  made  by  board  members  in  selecting  a  teacher  is 
local  and  isolated,  and  can  be  remedied,  but  a  mistake  in 
selecting  special  supervisors  is  widespread  in  its  influence  and 
hard  to  remove.  The  choice  and  direction  of  special  super- 
visors requires  an  expertness  of  judgment  which  few  laymen 
ever  possess,  and  if  board  members  begin  to  urge  personal  can- 
didates for  such  positions,  in  opposition  to  the  recommenda- 
tions o'f  the  superintendent,  the  supervisorial  system  can  soon 
be  demoralized  and  its  usefulness  in  large  part  destroyed. 

The  school  principals.  The  members  of  the  survey  staff 
were  much  pleased  with  what  they  saw  of  the  elementary 
school  principals,  and  the  work  they  were  doing  in  the  super- 
vision of  their  schools.  Usually  the  elementary  school  prin- 
cipalship  is  the  weakest  place  in  the  entire  school  system,  and 
one  generally  finds  more  dead  wood  in  such  positions  than  in 
any  other  place.  In  Salt  Lake  City  this  was  not  the  case.  On 
the  contrary,  with  a  few  exceptions,  the  elementary  school 
principals  were  a  good  body  of  supervisory  officers,  interested 
in  their  work  and  professionally  awake.  Some  of  them  were 
among  the  most  efficient  school  principals  members  of  the 
survey  staff  had  ever  seen,  and  their  helpfulness  to  their  teach- 
ers and  their  influence  on  both  teachers  and  children  seemed 
'strong  and  good.  One  characteristic  noted  was  that,  if  a 
member  of  the  survey  staff  arrived  at  a  school  building  after 
school  had  begun,  he  usually  had  to  ring  the  hall  bell  to  find 
the  principal.  He  was  somewhere  in  the  rooms,  busy  with 
his  work,  instead  of  sitting  in  his  office.  In  many  school  sys- 


44  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

terns  one  seldom  finds  a  school  principal,  during  school  hours, 
off  his  office  chair. 

Reasons  for  this  difference  in  Salt  Lake  City.  After  some 
investigation  the  survey  staff  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
much  of  this  efficiency  was  due  to  the  method  of  supervising 
the  schools  and  the  work  of  the  principals  adopted  by  the 
superintendent  and  the  special  supervisors.  The  principal  in 
Salt  Lake  City  has  been  made  the  center  and  the  unit  for  all 
work  of  building  supervision.  All  special  supervisors  are 
instructed  to  work  as  much  as  possible  through  him,  and  to 
respect  and  uphold  his  authority  in  the  school.  Outlines  and 
circular  letters  to  teachers  are  to  pass  through  his  hands,  and 
supervisors  are  directed  to  avoid  encroaching  on  his  rights  and 
prerogatives  as  the  responsible  head  of  his  building.  Each 
principal  has  been  made  to  feel  that  he  has  a  job  on  his  hands 
worthy  of  his  best  efforts,  and  that  the  responsibility  for  the 
success  of  his  school  rests  with  him.  Many  of  the  principals, 
in  talking  with  members  of  the  survey  staff,  said  that  they  felt 
under  constant  pressure  from  the  superintendent  to  be  efficient 
principals  and  to  make  a  success  o'f  their  work,  or  else  run  the 
risk  of  being  removed  from  their  positions. 

Hence  a  prominent  characteristic  of  the  system  of  school 
administration  employed  is  its  utilization  of  the  best  each  prin- 
cipal has  in  him  in  the  administration  of  his  school.  This 
means  an  individuality  among  the  different  schools  which  is  as 
delightful  to  see  as  it  is  unusual  to  find.  Too  many  school 
superintendents  feel  that  the  way  to  run  a  school  system  is  to 
issue  orders  and  regulations,  and  by  this  means  bring  all  up 
to  that  uniform  standard  which  is  handed  down  by  the  super- 
intendent from  above.  The  result  is  a  uniformity  in  control 
and  output  which  may  be  pleasing  to  the  superintendent  and 
board  members  who  have  mechanical  minds,  but  it  is  the  uni- 
formity of  death  rather  than  -oif  life.  School  principals  under 
such  a  system  of  administration  lose  their  initiative,  fail  to 
develop  any  individuality  in  the  administration  of  their  schools, 
and  in  time  become  keepers  of  records,  inspectors  of  work,  and 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  DEPARTMENT.  45 

distributors  of  chalk  and  supplies.  To  see  one  school  in  such 
a  city  system  is  to  see  the  type  school;  few  principals  under 
such  administrative  conditions  long  retain  life  enough  to  hold 
out  and  remain  different  from  the  mass. 

In  Salt  Lake  City  just  the  reverse  of  this  condition  was 
the  case.  Nearly  every  school  visited  had  something  that  was 
different,  and  most  of  the  principals  had  some  new  trick  in 
administrative  control  to  show.  Such  a  condition  can  only 
arise  under  the  stimulus  of  controlled  freedom.  Sucn  con- 
trolled freedom  means  life  to  principals,  a  new  stimulus  to 
teachers,  and  strength  and  vitality  to  the  schools. 

The  premium  on  individual  initiative.  Though  every 
school  system  ought  to  be  trying  some  educational  experi- 
ments, few  school  systems  do.  In  Salt  Lake  City,  on  the  con- 
trary, permission  to  try  any  worthy  experiment  is  easy  to 
obtain.  Any  principal  who  has  an  idea  which,  to  him,  seems 
likely  to  result  in  an  improvement  in  the  instruction  in  his 
school,  feels  at  liberty  to  lay  it  before  the  superintendent  of 
schools  and  to  ask  permission  to  try  it.  This  permission  is 
usually  granted,  though  the  conditions  of  control  of  the  exper- 
iment are  sometimes  laid  down.  The  result  is  that  a  number 
of  good  educational  experiments  were  being  tried  at  the  time 
of  our  visit.  On  questioning  school  principals,  we  found  that 
many  of  the  commendable  features  of  their  schools  had  arisen 
from  some  experiment  they  had  been  permitted  to  try  in  the 
past.  In  the  principals'  meetings,  held  once  each  month  by 
the  superintendent,  the  more  important  of  these  experiments 
are  reported  and  their  results  discussed.  We  also  found  in 
existence  a  Principals'  Advisory  Committee  o'f  five,  which 
meets  from  time  to  time  to  consider  matters  of  educational  im- 
portance, and  which  reports  its  findings  and  expresses  its 
wishes  to  the  superintendent  of  schools. 

S'uch  a  liberal  plan  in  school  administration  is  to  be  highly 
commended.  The  good  results  of  it  on  the  school  system  were 
evident  to  all  the  members  of  the  survey  staff.  If  asked  to 
name  the  one  thing  in  which  the  Salt  Lake  City  system  of 


46  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

school  administration  is  superior  to  most  other  systems,  we 
should  say  it  is  in  this  absence  of  a  deadening  uniformity 
imposed  from  above,  and  in  the  premium  which  is  placed  on 
initiative  from  below.  It  was  one  of  the  best  features  the 
survey  staff  found  in  the  Salt  Lake  City  school  system. 

It  was  the  unanimous  feeling  of  the  members  o'f  the  survey 
staff  that  the  system  of  administrative  control  of  supervisors 
and  principals  employed  by  the  superintendent,  and  of  princi- 
pals and  teachers  by  the  other  supervisory  officers,  was  excel- 
lent both  in  theory  and  results.  In  brief,  the  system  seemed 
based  on  the  theory  that  the  board  placed  the  responsibility 
for  the  success  of  the  school  system  on  the  superintendent  of 
schools;  he  in  turn  placed  the  responsibility  for  the  success 
of  each  part  or  school  on  the  special  supervisor  or  the  building 
principal  in  control ;  these  in  turn  placed  the  responsibility  for 
the  successful  conduct  of  each  room  upon  the  teacher  in 
charge;  and  she  in  turn  placed  the  responsibility  for  the  suc- 
cess o'f  that  room  upon  each  pupil  in  it.  The  members  of  the 
survey  staff  saw  many  evidences,  extending  all  the  way  from 
the  children  in  the  rooms  to  the  special  supervisors,  of  the 
wisdom  and  value  of  this  very  liberal  method  of  supervisory 
control  from  above. 


THE  TEACHING  STAFF. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  TEACHING  STAFF. 

(Cubberley) 


Growth  of  the  School  System.  The  drawing  below  shows 
in  graphic  form  the  growth  of  the  Salt  Lake  City  school  sys- 
tem in  the  matter  of  the  number  of  pupils  remaining  in  aver- 
age membership  throughout  each  school  year,  and  the  num- 
ber of  teachers  who  have  been  employed  to  teach  these  same 
pupils.  The  curves  do  not  show  the  still  larger  number  of 
pupils  enrolled,  but  who  did  not  remain  in  membership  in 
the  schools  throughout  the  year. 


FIG  7.     A  QUARTER  CENTURY  OF  GROWTH  IN  CHIL- 
DREN IN  SCHOOL  AND  TEACHERS  EMPLOYED. 


48  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

A  glance  at  the  drawing,  and  at  the  figures  giving  the 
number  of  pupils  in  average  membership  in  the  schools  for 
each  teacher  employed  for  the  different  years,  reveals  the 
history  of  the  efforts  of  the  school  board  to  supply  teachers 
for  the  schools.  This  average  number  of  pupils  per  teacher 
has  been  obtained  by  the  usual  method  of  dividing  the  total 
average  membership  in  the  schools  by  the  total  number  of  reg- 
ular and  special  teachers,  principals,  and  supervisors  employ- 
ed. If  only  elementary-school  class-room  teachers  were  used 
the  numbers  would  be  much  higher. 

During  the  first  eight  years  shown  on  the  chart  but  little 
effort  was  made  to  reduce  the  number  of  pupils  per  teacher. 
By  1897-98,  many  teachers  must  have  been  trying  to  teach  as 
many  as  fifty  children.  During  the  next  eight  years,  that  is 
from  1897-98  to  1905-06,  due  to  the  combined  influence  of  a 
falling  off  in  the  rate  of  increase -in  pupils  and  a  somewhat 
constant  increase  in  the  number  of  teachers  employed  for  the 
schools,  the  number  of  pupils  per  teacher  decreased  to  about 
what  it  is  at  present.  Prom  1905-06  to  1911-12,  but  especially 
during  the  last  two  years  of  this  period,  the  school  board 
seems  to  have  made  a  determined  effort  to  reduce  the  size  of 
classes,  finally  succeeding  in  bringing  the  school  average  down 
to  27.7.  This  still  meant  many  classes  of  forty  to  forty-five  chil- 
dren enrolled,  and  with  an  average  daily  attendance  of  from 
thirty-five  to  forty.  During  1912-13,  however,  the  number  of 
teachers  employed  was  actually  reduced  by  twenty-two,  and  this 
in  the  face  of  an  increase  in  school  enrollment  of  713,  and  an 
increase  in  average  membership  of  730.  Since  this  time  the 
number  of  pupils  per  teacher  has  been  allowed  to  increase, 
until  it  reached  32.3  in  1914-15,  and  this  notwithstanding  an 
increase  of  33  per  cent  in  the  number  of  high  school  teachers 
employed  during  the  past  two  years,  incident  to  the  opening 
of  the  new  East  Side  High  School.  Furthermore,  it  is  the 
announced  intention  to  increase  the  size  of  classes  still  fur- 
ther, during  1915-16,  by  employing  but  few  additional  teach- 


THE  TEACHING  STAFF. 


49 


ers.  Elementary-school  classes  will  soon  be  up  to  forty-five 
children  at  this  rate. 

In  1914-15,  for  which  we  have  segregated  figures,  the 
average  membership  of  32.3  per  teacher,  based  on  the  total 
number  of  all  kinds  of  teachers  employed,  meant  an  average 
enrollment  of  'forty  and  an  average  membership  of  thirty-five 
in  the  elementary  schools,  and  an  average  membership  of 
22.3  in  the  high  schools.  These  figures  for  the  elementary 
schools  are  high,  28  to  30  pupils  in  average  membership  being 
nearer  what  the  elementary  schools  should  average.  With  the 
tendency  to  employ  less  experienced  and  cheaper  teachers,  as 
will  be  pointed  out  further  on  in  this  chapter,  this  tendency 
to  increase  classes  cannot  be  continued  without  a  serious  im- 
pairment of  the  quality  of  the  instruction  in  the  schools. 

Position  of  Salt  Lake  City  as  to  teachers.  To  show  the 
position  of  Salt  Lake  City  in  the  matter  of  teachers  employed, 
compared  with  other  western  cities,  the  following  table  has 
been  compiled. 


TABLE  NO.  9. 

NUMBER  OF  PUPILS  IN  AVERAGE  DAILY  ATTENDANCE 
PER  TEACHER  EMPLOYED,  IN  ALL  SCHOOLS. 


City. 

Teacher 
average 

City. 

Teacher 
average 

Pasadena,  Cal...    . 

19  2 

Portland    Ore 

28  7 

Berkeley,   Cal  

24  6 

Colorado  Springs   Colo 

29  0 

Sacramento,  Cal  

24  9 

Spokane  Wash 

29  5 

Los  Angeles   Cal  

25  0 

Salt  Lake  City   Utah 

30  3 

Denver,  Colo  

25  8 

Oakland,  Cal 

30  7 

Butte,  Mont  

25  9 

San  Jose    Cal 

31  0 

San  Diego,  Cal  

26  7 

San  Francisco    Cal 

33  6 

Ogden,  Utah  

27  2 

Tacoma   Wash 

33  8 

Seattle,  Wash  

27.2 

Average  for  the  group. 
Excess    of    Salt    Lake 
City  above  average.  . 

27.9 
2.4 

Median  for  the  group. 
Excess    of    Salt    Lake 
City  above  median.  .| 

27.2 
3.1| 

50  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

To  compare  Salt  Lake  City  with  the  other  western  cities 
on  the  same  'basis,  the  number  of  principals  and  supervisory 
officers  employed  has  first  been  deducted  in  each  case.  The 
figures  are  based  on  the  last  published  reports  of  the  U.  S. 
Commissioner  of  Education,  except  for  Salt  Lake  City,  which  is 
calculated  on  the  basis  of  the  figures  for  1914-15. 

In  other  words,  this  table  shows  that  the  average  size 
of  classes  in  'Salt  Lake  City  is  3.1  pupils  higher  than  the 
median  point  for  sixteen  other  western  cities.  To  bring  the 
average  size  of  class  in  Salt  Lake  City  down  merely  to  this 
median  would  require  the  employment  of  sixty-five  additional 
teachers,  without  making  any  allowance  for  the  normal  in- 
crease next  September.  In  view  of  these  figures  the  an- 
nounced intention  to  increase  the  size  of  classes  next  year,  by 
employing  but  few  new  teachers,  while  it  may  be  necessary 
with  the  present  lack  of  buildings  and  funds  for  school 
maintenance,  is  nevertheless  an  undesirable  thing  to  do  from 
any  educational  point  of  view. 

Other  bad  features  of  the  teacher  situation.  Coupled 
with  this  pushing  up  of  the  size  of  classes,  certain  other  very 
undesirable  features  are  coming  in  to  further  complicate  the 
educational  problem  in  Salt  Lake  City. 

In  the  first  place,  the  number  of  ungraded  rooms  in  the 
city  is  being  reduced,  though  the  larger  the  classes  become 
and  the  less  experienced  the  teaching  force,  the  more  need 
there  is  for  ungraded  rooms  and  special  classes.  As  will  be 
pointed  out  more  in  detail  in  Chapter  IX,  the  city  at  present 
needs  at  least  fifteen  additional  teachers  for  ungraded  classes 
in  the  different  elementary  schools  of  the  city,  and  ten  addi- 
tional special  teachers  for  retarded  and  defective  children. 
These  are  minimum  needs  merely  to  care  properly  for  present 
conditions.  The  high  degree  of  retardation  in  the  schools,  as 
will  also  be  pointed  out  in  Chapter  IX,  and  especially  in  a 
number  of  schools  having  no  ungraded  room,  would  indicate 
the  need  'for  lighter  rather  than  heavier  loads  for  the  grade 
teachers. 


THE  TEACHING  STAFF.  51 

Another  undesirable  feature  of  the  situation  is  the  tend- 
ency, at  present  so  manifest,  to  take  cheaper  and  less  exper- 
ienced teachers  for  the  schools.  Figure  8,  giving  the  distribu- 
tion of  salaries  paid  elementary-school  teachers  during  1914-15, 


Number 


75 


44% 


f/V  - 

FIG.   8.     DISTRIBUTION   OF   SALARIES   PAID   ELEMEN- 
TARY-SCHOOL TEACHERS.  1914-15. 


shows  this  very  clearly.  While  the  minimum  salary  is  nom- 
inally $600,  15.5  per  cent  of  the  teachers  in  the  schools  have 
been  put  in,  during  the  past  two  years,  as  probationary 
teachers  at  salaries  on  which  no  other  than  a  "home  girl" 
could  possibly  live.  That  this  has  resulted  in  a  marked  in- 
crease in  the  number  of  inexperienced  local  girls  selected  for 
teaching  positions  in  the  elementary  schools  is  clearly  shown 
by  Figure  9,  on  the  following  page.  Two-thirds  of  the  ele- 
mentary-school teachers  in  the  city  are  seen  to  'be  "home 
girls." 


UTAH  STATE  NORMAL 


TEACHERS     IN    ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 


HIGH  SCHOOL  TFACHERS 


FIG.  9.     WHERE  THE  TEACHERS  OF  SALT  LAKE  CITY 
HAVE   RECEIVED   THEIR  EDUCATION. 


THE  TEACHING  STAFF.  5o 

With  the  isolation  under  which  Salt  Lake  City  to  a  cer- 
tain extent  suffers,  this  is  entirely  too  high  a  percentage  of 
home  talent  to  have  employed.  It  represents  an  inbreeding 
process  which  is  certain  to  weaken  the  work  of  the  schools 
Salt  Lake  City  would  have  a  very  much  better  teaching  force 
in  its  elementary  schools  if  it  drew  more  extensively  on  teach- 
ers who  have  received  their  training  and  experience  in  other 
cities  and  states.  The  employment  of  teachers  from  the 
outside  has  been  the  great  strength  of  the  school  systems 
o>f  such  cities  as  Seattle,  Portland,  Oakland.  Pasadena,  Los 
Angeles  and  San  Diego.  For  Salt  Lake  City  to  follow  the 
example  of  these  cities,  though,  would  involve  raising  the 
minimum  salaries  for  teachers  up  to  about  what  the  median 
now  is.  The  salaries  paid  high  school  teachers  are  better,  as 


iT>OloO'OOiOoloO0-'vJtr-> 

~^I  oco|f2!f2^^?2?2^£^S^ 


60  t-  C£)  C910.IO 


FIG.  10.     DISTRIBUTION  OF  SALARIES  PAID  HIGH 
SCHOOL   TEACHERS,    1914-15. 

may  be  seen  from  Figure  10.  which  doubtless  accounts  for 
the  greater  percentage  of  outside  teachers  shown  in  the  lower 
part  of  Figure  9. 

As  the  salary  schedule  in  Salt  Lake  City  is  graded  largely 
on  the  basis  of  the  number  of  years  of  teaching  service,  the 
great  massing  of  salaries  toward  the  lower  end  of  the  scale 
indicate  the  employment  of  young  and  inexperienced  teachers. 
Figure  8  shows  that  41.6  per  cent  of  the  elementary-school 
teachers  this  past  year  have  been  paid  $750  or  less.  Salt 
Lake  City  is  employing  for  its  schools  too  many  girls  of  little 


54 


SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 


teaching  experience.  This  is  further  brought  out  by  Figure 
11,  which  shows  that  50  per  cent  of  the  teachers  in  the  city 
have  been  in  the  schools  five  years  or  less. 


NUMBER  OF  T£ACHC*S->S         IP 


1*90 
1*91 

im 


1*94 


1*96' 

1*97 

159? 

1*99 

1900 

1901 

1902 

1903 

1904 

1905 

1906 

1907 


50       55       60 


Off 


J9J3 
/9J4 


FIG.  11.     TENURE  OF  TEACHERS  IN  SALT  LAKE  CITY, 
AS'  SHOWN  BY  THE  YEAR  OF  FIRST  APPOINT- 
MENT TO  THE  TEACHING  FORCE. 

The  Salary  Schedules.  That  teachers'  salaries  in  Salt 
Lake  'City  are  low  there  can  be  no  question.  Salt  Lake  City 
is  not  a  cheap  city  in  which  to  live,  and  a  public  school 
teacher  should  be  paid  a  salary  sufficient  to  enable  her  to 
live  as  a  person  of  education  and  refinement  should.  This 
demands  a  salary  large  enough  to  enable  the  teacher  to  secure 
a  good  quiet  room  in  a  house  where  she  has  regular  use  of 
a  bath,  good  food,  reasonably  good  clothing,  some  money  for 
books  and  better-class  amusements,  something  left  for  sum- 
mer schools  and  a  summer  vacation,  and  a  little  margin  for 


THE  TEACHING  STAFF. 


55 


the  unexpected.  $800  a  year,  considering  the  training  re- 
quired and  the  cost  of  living,  is  low  enough  'for  a  minimum 
in  a  western  city,  and  $1,200  a  year  is  low  enough  for  a  max- 
imum for  teachers  in  elementary  schools.  For  high  schools, 
a  beginning  salary  of  $900  and  a  maximum  of  $1,500,  with 
$1,800  to  $2,000  for  heads  of  departments,  are  salaries  which 
are  not  too  high  when  it  is  remembered  that  graduation  from 
a  university  is  required  to  enter  the  work. 

That  such  salaries  are  comparable  to  those  paid  in  other 
western  cities  where  living  costs  are  somewhat  similar,  and 
where  good  school  systems  are  maintained,  may  be  seen  from 
the  following  table,  comparing  teachers'  salaries  in, Salt  Lake 
City  with  salaries  paid  in  the  sixteen  other  western  cities  used 
in  other  tables  in  -this  report. 


TABLE  NO.   10. 

COMPARATIVE     SALARY     SCHEDULE     IN     WESTERN 

CITIES. 


CITY 

TEACHERS 

PRINCIPALS 

Minimum 
Salary 

Maximum 
Salary 

Minimum 
Salary 

Maximum 
Salary 

I.  Elementary  Schools. 
1.  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah.... 
2.  Tacoma,  Wash. 

$480 
600 
600 
600 

720 
725 
750 
768 
768 
780 
800 
840 
840 
840 
900 
960 

$1020 

960 
960 
1000 
1200 
1100 
1200 
1200 
1200 
1200 
1100 
1024 
1050 
1110 
1200 
1200 

$1350 
1140 
1150 
1050 
1400 
1050 
1200 
1200 
1300 
1500 
1200 
2340 
1800 
1440 
1560 
1500 

$2350 
1800 
1800 
1800 
2000 
2150 
1700 
2004 
2400 
2400 
2100 
2460 
1920 
2160 
1560 
2280 

3.  Colorado  Springs,  Colo. 
4.  Spokane,  Wash  

5.  Denver,   Colo  
6.  Portland,  Ore  

7.  Butte,  Mont. 

8.  San  Diego,  Cai 

9.  Los  Angeles,  Cal 

10.  Oakland,  Cal  

11.  Pasadena,  Cal  
12.  San  Francisco,  Cal  
13.  San  Jose,  Cal 

14.  Seattle,  Wash. 

15.  Sacramento,  Cal. 

16.  Berkeley.  Cal  

56 


SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 


TABLE  10,  CONTINUED. 

COMPARATIVE     SALARY    SCHEDULES    IN    WESTERN 

CITIES. 


CITY. 

Teachers 

Heads  of 
Depart- 
ments 
Maximum 

Principals 

Minimum 
Salary 

Maximum 
Salary 

II.  High  Schools. 
1.  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah.... 
2.  Tacoma,  Wash. 

$800 
810 
900 
1000 
1020 
1100 
1100 
1150 
1200 
1200 
1200 
1200 
1200 
1250 
1260 
1500 

$1400 

1350 
1600 
1600 
1560 
1400 
1500 
1350 
1500 
1600 
1680 
1680 
1500 
1600 
1500 
1730 

$1600 

1600 
1600 
2200 
1680 
1800 
1700 
1600 
1800 
1800 
2160 
1680 
2200 
1800 
2100 
2040 

$3800 
2500 
1800 

3.  Colorado  Springs,  Colo. 
4.  Denver,  Colo. 

5.  Seattle,  Wash  

3600 
3300 
3300 
3000 
3000 
3000 
3600 
2300 
3600 
3000 
3300 
3600 

6.  Spokane,  Wash  

7.  Pasadena,  Cal  

8.  Portland,  Ore  

9.  Berkeley,  Cal. 

10.  San  Diego,  Cal 

11.  Los  Angeles,  Cal 

12.  Sacramento,  Cal. 

13.  San  Jose,  Cal  

14.  Butte,  Mont  

15.  Oakland,   Cal  

16.  San  Francisco,  Cal  

In  both  elementary  and  secondary  school  salaries,  as 
shown  by  the  above  table,  Salt  Lake  City  pays  the  lowest  min- 
imum and  also  nearly  the  lowest  maximum  of  any  western  city. 
Only  in  the  salaries  paid  principals  should  Salt  Lake  City  be 
commended. 

Comparative  Salaries  Paid.  That  the  salaries  paid  teach- 
ers in  Salt  Lake  City  are  also  lower  than  are  paid  other 
types  of  city  employees,  and  employees  in  other  local  lines  of 
business,  may  be  seen  from  the  following  table  giving  wage 
scales  common  in  Salt  Lake  City.  For  purposes  of  proper 
comparison  all  have  been  reduced  to  a  twelve-month  basis. 


THE  TEACHING  STAFF.  57 

TABLE  NO.   11. 

WAGE  SCALE  FOR  DIFFERENT  TYPES  OF  EMPLOYEES 
IN  SALT  LAKE  CITY. 

PUBLIC  SCHOOL  EMPLOYEES. 

In  elementary  schools  $  40.00  to  $  85.00  per  month  12 

In  high  schools   41.66  to     116.66  per  month          12 

Department  heads  in  high  schools  100.00  to    133.33  per  month 

School  janitors 

CITY   EMPLOYEES. 

Policemen $  80.00  to  $112.50  per  month 

Firemen 80.00  to  100.00  per  month 

Street  sweepers 1.75  per  day 

Clerks  in  city  offices 75.00  to  100.00  per  month 

Stenographers  in  same 60.00  to  75.00  per  month 

Policemen $  per  month 

Firemen,  Street  Sweepers per  month 

Clerks  in  City  and  County  Offices . .  per  month 

Stenographers  in  City  and  County  Offices  per  month 

BANK   EMPLOYEES. 

Head  bookkeepers $  90.  to  $125.  per  month 

Assistant  bookkeepers 75.  to     100.  per  month 

Collectors 30.  to      75.  per  month 

Tellers , 100.  to     150.  per  month 

RAILROAD    EMPLOYEES. 

Bookkeepers   $  90.  to  $110.  per  month 

Traveling  men 100.  to     150.  'per  month 

Stenographers  and  secretaries 50.  to     100.  per  month 

Telegraph  operators 85.  to     100.  per  month 

STORE  EMPLOYEES. 

Bookkeepers   $  75.  to  $110.         per  month 

Clerks,  male   60.  to     100.         per  month 

Clerks,  female 80.  to      60.         per  month 

Conclusions  as  to  Teachers.  It  will  be  seen  from  the 
tables  and  charts  given  in  this  chapter  that  the  number  of 
teachers  now  employed  is  too  small,  and  that  the  tendency  in 
employment  is  in  the  wrong  direction ;  that  the  schools  are 
securing  too  many  inexperienced  teachers,  from  the  immed- 
iate neighborhoods,  and  with  purely  local  outlook  and  train- 
ing; that  the  tendency  in  salaries  is  downward,  belovv  what  is 
a  living  wage  for  any  person  of  education  and  refinement,  and 


58  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

below  a  remuneration  which  will  make  teaching  attractive 
to  the  better  class  of  young  people;  and  that  the  salaries 
paid  are  lower  than  in  other  western  cities,  or  in  other  types 
df  city  service.  What  ought  to  appeal  to  the  best  minds  as 
the  highest  and  most  attractive  service  is  rendered  just  the 
opposite,  from  a  monetary  point  of  view. 

To  supply  the  present  needs  of  the  schools  for  regular 
class  teachers  and  for  special  teachers,  as  will  be  pointed  out 
further  on  in  this  report,  would  require  the  addition  of  ap- 
proximately 100  more  teachers  to  the  elementary  school  serv- 
ice. To  pay  a  salary  schedule  such  as  well-trained  teachers 
demand  would  require,  including  the  new  teachers  to  be  em- 
ployed to  meet  present  needs,  an  addition  of  probably  40  per 
cent  to  the  present  allowance  for  teachers'  salaries.  This  is 
doubtless  impossible  under  the  present  tax  limits,  but  it  is  no 
less  a  necessity  if  the  schools  are  to  be  put  in  condition  to 
render  the  full  service  that  they  should.  A  continuation  of 
present  tendencies  cannot  fail  to  interfere  seriously  with  the 
efficiency  of  the  instruction  in  the  schools. 

In  presenting  these  criticisms  of  the  present  policy  as  to 
teachers,  necessitated  by  the  present  financial  situation,  the 
survey  staff  do  not  wish  to  leave  the  impression  that  they 
feel  that  the  teaching  force  is  not  rendering  good  service. 
On  the  contrary,  we  felt  that  the  city  was  getting  more  for 
its  money  than  it  had  a  right  to  expect.  In  every  school  we 
found  a  few  excellent  teachers,  a  number  of  good  average 
teachers,  and  one  or  two  teachers  -who  seemed  to  lack  ex- 
perience and  grasp.  The  last  is  not  at  all  surprising,  consider- 
ing the  type  of  young  people  being  taken  for  the  work.  That 
the  teachers  were  rendering  as  good  service  as  they  were, 
considering  the  inexperience  and  lack  of  contact  with  life 
elsewhere  of  many  of  the  newer  ones,  was  in  large  measure 
due  to  the  good  supervision  given  their  work  by  the  prin- 
cipals and  special  supervisors. 


SCHOOL  CENSUS  AND  ATTENDANCE. 


59 


CHAPTER  V. 

SCHOOL  CENSUS  AND  SCHOOL  ATTENDANCE. 
(Cubberley) 

The  Increase  in  Both.  The  drawing  which  appears  on 
this  page  shows  the  increases  in  school  census,  school  enroll- 
ment, and  average  membership  in  the  schools  of  Salt  Lake 
City  for  the  past  quarter  of  a  century.  In  a  general  way  the 
three  follow  somewhat  parallel  lines,  though  the  increase  in 
enrollment  and  average  membership  during  the  past  fifteen 
years  has  not  quite  kept  up  with  the  increase  in  the  school 


s.ooo 


fl  I  H  M  I  $  ft  1 1 1 1'  i 


FIG.  12.    INCREASE  IN  SCHOOL  CENSUS,  ENROLLMENT, 
AND  AVERAGE  MEMBERSHIP. 

census.  The  increase  in  school  census  as  reported  by  the  en- 
umerators has  also  'been  less  regular  than  has  the  increase 
in  enrollment  and  average  membership,  as  shown  by  the  more 


60  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

jagged  line.  A  natural  question  raised  by  such  a  curve  is  as 
to  whether  the  different  enumerations  have  been  carefully 
made.  It  is  hard  to  explain  the  decreases  in  1906,  and  again 
in  1912,  on  any  other  basis  than  a  failure  to  enumerate  all  the 
existing  children.  As  all  apportionments  of  state  school  money 
are  based  on  the  school  census  returns  (children  over  6  and 
under  18  years  of  age  reported  as  living  within  the  city)  and 
as  the  amount  apportioned  is  a  considerable  sum  ($13.00  per 
child  in  1913-14)  it  doubtless  would  pay  the  board  of  educa- 
tion to  revise  the  methods  in  use  for  taking  the  annual  school 
census. 

A  School  Census  Bureau.  A  school  census  bureau  should 
be  created,  in  connection  with  the  department  of  compulsory 
school  attendance,  and  it  should  compile  accurate  records  of 
the  children  living  in  every  block  or  school  district  in  the 
city.  Such  records  might  be  collected  by  the  school  princi- 
pals, by  the  department  of  compulsory  attendance,  or  by  some 
other  means.  Each  pupil-record  should  show  the  following  in- 
formation. 

1.  Name  of  child  (surname  first). 

2.  Sex  of  child. 

3.  Month,  day,  and  year  of  birth,  from  which  the  num- 

ber of  years  old,  at  last  birthday,  is  also  to  be  set 
down.  The  authority  upon  which  the  age  is  taken 
(word  of  parents ;  birth  certificate ;  baptismal  certifi- 
cate; passport;  etc.)  shall  also  be  set  down. 

4.  Country  of  birth. 

o.    Name   of   parent    (father   or   mother),    guardian,    or 
other  person  standing  in  parental  relation. 

6.  Abode,   including   school-attendance   district,   post-of- 

fice address,  and  street  and  number. 

7.  Physical   condition    (good;   deaf;   dumb;   blind;    crip- 
pled). 

8.  Mental  condition  (good;  otherwise). 

9.  School  attending  (public;  private;  parochial). 
10.     Position  in  school   (grade). 


SCHOOL  CENSUS  AND  ATTENDANCE.          61 

11.  Reason,  if  not  attending  school. 

12.  If  employed,  where  and  how. 

13.  Vaccination  certificate  record. 

A  duplicate  card  system  should  be  employed,  one  card  to 
be  retained  in  the  office  of  the  department  of  compulsory  school 
attendance,  and  one  at  the  school  the  child  attends.  This 
form  of  school  census  should  be  always  in  the  making,  so 
as  to  keep  it  accurate  and  reliable.  School  teachers  and  prin- 
cipals should  report  all  changes  and  additions,  and  the  school 
principals  could  be  employed  on  Saturdays  or  in  vacation  to 
check  up  and  keep  accurate  the  information  for  their  school 
districts. 

All  such  data  should  be  sorted  and  tabulated  by  schools, 
or  attendance  districts,  and  the  attendance  of  each  child  at 
public,  private,  or  parochial  school,  or  non-attendance  at  any 
school,  should  be  indicated  on  the  records.  The  annual  state 
school  census,  required  by  the  laws  of  the  state,  could  be 
taken  each  July  from  the  card  records  on  file  in  the  office 
of  the  attendance  department.  By  using  some  care  to  main- 
tain such  records  in  accurate  form,  the  whereabouts  of  every 
child  of  school  age  could  at  all  times  be  known.  Such  a 
form  of  continuing  school  census  has  been  established  by  a 
few  of  our  cities,  and  is  the  only  form  that  possesses  much  real 
value  as  a  record,  or  for  the  enforcement  of  the  compulsory- 
attendance,  child-labor,  or  working-permit  laws. 

Such  a  plan  calls  for  the  appointment  of  a  man  or  woman 
who  will  give  full  time  to  keeping  the  records  accurate,  and 
some  extra  clerical  assistance  at  certain  times  of  the  year. 
The  school  principals  could  be  used  for  much  of  the  work,  as 
they  constitute  the  most  intelligent  body  of  assistants  obtain- 
able. Such  a  census  bureau  would  of  course  cost  something 
to  maintain, — perhaps  $5,000  a  year, — but  it  probably  would 
more  than  save  its  cost  in  increased  earnings  from  the  state 
grants,  in  addition  to  affording  a  much  better  basis  for  the 
enforcement  of  the  state  laws  relating  to  the  education  and 
protection  of  children. 


62  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

Value  of  such  Records  in  Locating  School  Buildings.  A 
tabulation  of  such  records,  from  year  to  year  by  blocks  and 
by  districts,  would  also  be  of  much  value  to  the  officers  of 
the  school  department  in  determining  the  growth,  the  rate 
of  growth,  and  the  changes  in  character  of  the  school  pop- 
ulation in  the  different  districts  of  the  city.  From  such  data 
the  needs  of  the  school  department  in  buildings,  rooms,  equip- 
ment, and  teachers  could  not  only  'be  somewhat  accurately 
determined,  but  determined  sufficiently  long  enough  in  ad- 
vance to  enable  the  school  department  to  provide  proper 
school  facilities.  It  is  from  some  such  form  of  record  that 
a  telephone  company  knows  where  to  locate  a  branch  ex- 
change, and  when  to  replace  its  lines  with  others  capable  of 
caring  for  increased  business.  With  such  records  available, 
such  errors  of  personal  judgment  as  the  -board  of  education 
made  last  year  in  deciding  to  locate  a  new  building  on  the 
already  over-crowded  Hamilton  School  site,  and  later,  a'fteir 
the  type  of  building  had  been  decided  upon  and  plans  had 
been  drawn,  reversing  itself  and  locating  the  building  as  orig- 
inally recommended  by  the  superintendent  of  schools,  could 
easily  be  avoided.  From  reading  the  minutes  of  board  meet- 
ings for  July,  August  and  September  of  last  year,  one  would 
be  led  to  infer  that  this  needless  mistake  cost  the  board  a 
large  amount  of  time,  and  caused  much  bitter  feeling.  Under 
a  good  record  system,  such  a  case  could  easily  have  been 
avoided. 

Enforcement  of  Compulsory  Attendance.  The  school 
law  of  the  State  of  Utah  requires  the  attendance  at  some 
school  of  practically  every  child  in  Salt  Lake  'City,  between 
the  ages  of  8  and  16,  for  at  least  30  weeks  each  year.  The 
reports  of  the  school  truant  officer,  as  printed  in  the  annual 
reports  of  the  board  of  education,  would  indicate  that  the 
attendance  of  children  is  looked  after  as  well  as  one  man 
can  do  such  work  in  a  city  of  110,000  inhabitants,  and  cover- 
ing fifty  square  miles  of  territory. 

Figure  13,  showing  the  ages  of  all  children  belonging  to 


SCHOOL  CENSUS  AND  ATTENDANCE. 


63 


the  schools  in  May,  1915,  shows  that  attendance  holds  up  fair- 
ly well  to  the   end   of  the   15th  year.     Figure   14,   however, 


ZOOO  Pup',ls 


'-1500 


-1000 


FIG.  13.    DISTRIBUTION  OF  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  PUPILS  IN 
SALT  LAKE,   BY  AGES. 


shows  that  attendance  drops  very  rapidly  in  Salt  Lake  City 
after  the  completion  of  the  6th  school  grade,  and  this  fact, 
together  with  the  large  number  of  over-age  children  in  the 


SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 


grades,  as  shown  by  Figure  28,  makes  it  almost  certain  that 
a  large  number  of  the  older  children,  held  in  school  by  the 
enforcement  o'f  the  compulsory  education  laws,  are  pupils 
who  are  " mired  down"  in  the  grades  and  are  hopelessly  re- 
peating work  which  is  not  at  all  suited  to  their  needs.  This 
must  be  particularly  the  case  with  many  of  the  boys.  It  is 
almost  certain  that  a  vocational  school  for  such  children  would 
be  of  great  benefit  not  only  to  them,  but  to  the  grades  from 
which  they  would  be  withdrawn  as  well.  No  school  system 
consisting  of  grade  instruction  alone  can  ever  meet  the  educa- 
tional needs  of  those  markedly  over-age  boys  and  girls  who 
find  themselves  unable  to  make  satisfactory  progress  in  the 
work  of  the  ordinary  school  course  of  study.  The  needs  of 
such  children  are  considered  more  at  length  in  Chapter  IX. 


4-000 
Pupils 


350O 


3000 


2500 


'ZOOO 


1.1OO 


1OOO 


500 


XT     HI 


FIG.  14.     CHANGES  IN  THE  ENROLLMENT  BY  GRADES 
IN  TWENTY  YEARS. 


SCHOOL  CENSUS  AND  ATTENDANCE.          65 

Where  the  Schools  are  Increasing.  Figure  14  shows  the 
increase  in  pupils  enrolled  in  the  schools  at  the  close  of  each 
ten-year  period  for  the  past  three  decades,  and  their  distribu- 
tion throughout  the  school  system  by  grades.  This  is  an  in- 
teresting chart.  In  1894,  the  great  dropping  out  of  children 
took  place  after  the  completion  of  the  4th  school  grade,  the 
number  remaining  to  the  close  of  the  8th  or  going  on  through 
the  high  school  being  quite  small.  During  the  ten-year  per- 
iod up  to  1914,  the  schools  actually  increased  more  in  the  four 
upper  grades  than  in  the  four  lower,  a  rather  anomolous 
situation.  During  the  last  ten-year  period,  the  great  gain  has 
been  in  the  first  six  grades. 

The  marked  falling  off  in  ai  tendance  is  now  seen  to  take 
place  at  the  close  of  both  the  4tf«  and  the  6th  school  grades, 
with  another  heavy  mortality  a  t  \he  end  of  the  firsf  year  of 
the  high  school.  The  loss  at  the  end  of  the  9th  grade  is 
almost  as  large  as  the  loss  at  the  end  of  the  8th.  These 
curves  naturally  raise  a  question  as  to  whether  the  courses, 
of  study  and  the  types  of  education  provided  for  the  children 
below  16  years  of  age  is  the  best  the  community  can  provide. 
This  question  will  be  considered  more  in  detail  in  the  succeed- 
ing chapters  of  this  report. 

Pupils  Completing  the  High-school  Course.  The  small 
number  of  pupils  finishing  a  high  school  course,  or  even  con- 
tinuing into  the  second  year  of  the  high  schools,  is  a  notice- 
able feature  of  the  distribution  shown  in  figure  14.  In  a 
community  such  as  Salt  Lake  City,  a  community  of  good 
racial  stocks,  low  illiteracy,  good  educational  traditions,  a 
state  university  at  its  doors,  and  much  wealth,  this  is  a  rather 
surprising  condition  to  find.  One  would  expect,  in  such  a 
city,  to  find  a  large  rather  than  a  small  percentage  of  pupils 
•in  attendance  at  the  high  schools.  But,  notwithstanding  the 
rather  marked  increase  in  high  school  enrollment  during  the 
last  decade,  the  percentage  in  the  high  school  grades  is  still 
quite  low.  This  condition  naturally  raises  questions  as  to 
the  adaptability  to  community  needs  of  the  instruction  now 


66 


SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 


CITIES 

1  BERKELEY.CAL 

2  NEWTON,  MASS. 

3  SAN  JOSE.CAL 
4PASADENA.CAL 
pWALTHAfA.MASS 

6  SAN  DIEGO.CAL. 

7  SEATTLE. WASH. 
SSPOKANE.WASH 
9CA(V\BRIDGE,MAS5 

NODES  MWNESJA 
11SACRAN\[NTO,CAL 
M210S  ANGELES,  CAL. 

13  OMAHA,  NEBR 

14  DENVER, COLO 
I5TACOMA,WASH. 
l6.SPRIN6ri[LD,MA35. 
17  PORTLAND,  ORE 
1SOAKLANIXCAL 
19.DULUTH,IV\ltiN 
20.BUTTE.MONT. 
Z10GDEN,UTAH 
22.YONKERS,N.Y 
pS&LTLftREClTY 
24.PALLRIVER,N\ASS 
R5.5AN  FRANC  1SCO 


FIG  15.     THE  PERCENTAGE  WHICH  THE  ATTENDANCE 

AT  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS  REPRESENTS  OF  THE 

ATTENDANCE  AT  ALL  SCHOOLS. 


SCHOOL  CENSUS  AND  ATTENDANCE.  67 

offered  in  the  Salt  Lake  City  high  schools.  This  question  we 
shall  consider  at  length  in  the  second  part  of  this  report. 

To  compare  Salt  Lake  City  in  this  respect  with  other 
cities,  Figure  15  has  been  prepared.  This  shows,  in  a  series  of 
percentages,  the  relation  which  the  number  of  pupils  in  at- 
tendance at  the  high  schools  in  the  different  cities  bears  to  the 
total  number  of  pupils  attending  all  schools  in  the  city.  Salt 
Lake  City  is  here  compared  with  twenty-four  other  American 
cities,  including  the  sixteen  western  cities  previously  used. 
The  data  used  for  all  cities  is  from  the  published  reports  of 
the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education,  and  covers  the 
school  year  1912-13,  which  is  the  last  year  for  which  reports 
are  as  yet  available.  Salt  Lake  City  has  also  been  calculated 
for  the  year  1914-15,  from  figures  furnished  by  the  superin- 
tendent as  to  this  year's  attendance.  It  would  be  expected 
that  the  opening  of  the  new  East  Side  High  School  would 
have  materially  affected  the  attendance,  but  the  increase  is 
only  from  8.2  per  cent  to  9.2  per  cent.  This  raises  'Salt  Lake 
City  only  from  the  twenty-third  place  among  twenty-five  cities 
to  twrenty-second  place. 

This  chart  tends  to  confirm  the  impression,  raised  by  a 
.study  of  the  curves  of  Figure  14,  that  the  courses  of  study 
offered  in  the  'Salt  Lake  City  high  schools  are  not  as  well 
.adapted  to  the  needs  oif  the  children  of  the  city  as  they 
should  be.  The  last  two  years  of  the  elementary-school  course 
.also  probably  lack  in  power  to  interest  the  pupils  in  carrying 
their  studies  further.  These  questions  will  be  considered  fur- 
ther in  the  second  part  of  this  report,  where  certain  reor- 
ganizations, calculated  to  improve  the  upper-grade  work  and 
make  the  entrance  to  high  school  more  attractive,  are  pre- 
sented. 


PART  II 

The  Work  of  the 
Schools 


THE  COURSES  OF  STUDY.  71 

CHAPTER  VI. 
THE  PRINTED  COURSES  OF  STUDY. 


(Van  Sickle) 

Order  of  Procedure.  Turing  now  to  the  work  of  the 
schools  themselves,  we  shall  attempt  to  evaluate,  with  some 
care,  the  work  which  they  attempt  and  carry  out.  First  we 
shall  examine  the  printed  courses  of  study  and  outlines  for 
work  that  are  issued  for  the  guidance  of  teachers  in  the 
schools,  to  see  in  how  far  these  meet  the  best  standards  as 
to  what  should  constitute  school  instruction.  This  will  'be 
done  in  the  present  chapter,  taking  first  the  kindergarten, 
and  then  the  different  subjects  taught  in  the  elementary 
school,  and  in  the  order  in  which  they  are  presented  in  the 
printed  courses  of  study.  In  the  chapter  which  follows  we 
shall  attempt  to  evaluate  the  instruction  and  supervision  as 
seen  by  the  different  members  of  the  survey  staff,  and  shall 
make  recommendations  for  certain  desirable  extensions  of 
the  school  work. 

Opinions  and  Tests.  Both  o'f  these  chapters  will,  of  nec- 
essity be  based  largely  on  the  personal  opinion  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  survey  staff,  based  in  turn,  we  hope,  on  a  knowl- 
edge of  what  constitutes  good  theory  and  current  practice  in 
the  best  of  our  American  school  system.  Following  these  two 
chapters,  and  in  a  way  supporting  their  conclusions,  will  come 
two  other  chapters,  which  are  in  no  way  based  on  personal 
opinion,  but  instead  on  careful  measurements  as  to  the  results 
of  the  instruction  and  administration  of  the  schools,  using 
standard  tests  and  carefully  collected  statistical  data. 

This  second  part  of  the  report  must,  by  its  very  nature, 
be  somewhat  scientific  and  technical,  as  any  other  than  a 
scientific  and  technical  treatment  of  the  problem  would  be 


72  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

of  but  little  value,  but  to  those  charged  with  the  admin- 
istration and  instruction  of  the  schools  the  results  here  of- 
fered should  prove  o'f  very  great  use.  We  also  venture  to 
hope  that  this  second  part  has  been  put  in  such  form,  and 
the  results  so  illustrated  by  diagrams,  that  the  laymen,  as 
well,  may  be  able  to  understand  it  and  from  it  derive  an 
accurate  and  intelligent  idea  as  to  the  actual  work  which 
the  schools  of  his  city  are  doing. 

I.     THE  KINDERGARTENS. 

The  Kindergarten  Theory.  As  outlined  by  the  supervisor 
of  primary  schools  and  kindergartens  this  seems  to  be  of  the 
liberal  type,  but  the  equipment  for  carrying  out  this  theory 
is  inadequate,  in  that  it  consists  of  the  old-time  small  gift 
blocks  and  occupation  materials.  A  theory  in  line  with  the 
best  modern  thought  cannot  be  consistently  worked  out  by 
means  of  an  equipment  designed  for  an  extremely  conserva- 
tive and  now  almost  abandoned  practice. 

A  valuable  feature  of  the  printed  directions  to  kinder- 
garten teachers  consists  of  suggestive  exercises  for  the  train- 
ing of  the  senses  o'f  touch,  sight,  and  hearing  similar  to  those 
cited  by  Halleck  in  his  "Education  of  the  Central  Nervous 
System."  To  quote  from  the  outline  in  this  connection: 

"The  development  of  the  senses  always  precedes  intellectual  activ- 
ity, but  we  often  demand  the  activity  before  we  have  given  any  train- 
ing to  the  senses,  or  at  least  any  regulated,  purposeful  training. 

"Because  the  period  of  life  between  the  age  of  three  and  the  age 
of  eight  is  one  of  rapid  sense  development,  and  because  during  this 
period  the  child  responds  readily  to  the  sense  stimuli  of  his  environ- 
ment and  but  little  to  reason,  the  kindergarten  should  make  sense 
training  one  of  its  chief  lines  of  work. 

"Sense  training  exercises  are  exceedingly  valuable  not  only 
because  they  result  in  trained  servants  but  because  they  demand 
more  or  less  concentration  and  therefore  beget  the  habit  and  increase 
the  power." 

'Considering  some  of  the  other  aims  of  the  kindergarten 
work,  the  outline  continues  as  follows : 


THE  COURSES  OF  STUDY.  73 

"We  must  remember  that  a  kindergarten  is  not  an  entity,  it  is  a 
link  in  a  chain,  and  as  such  we  should  see  to  it  that  it  will  fit  into 
the  next  link.  Teachers  of  the  first  grade  have  a  right  to  expect 
children  who  have  had  a  kindergarten  training  to  come  to  them  with 
greater  sensory  power,  with  some  ability  to  receive  and  follow  direc- 
tions, some  manual  power,  some  idea  of  self-control  in  the  interest  of 
the  social  group,  a  desire  to  achieve  an  independent  solution  of  their 
little  problems,  and  possessed  of  an  alertness  of  sense  perception  not 
looked  for  in  children  who  have  not  had  such  training." 

More  kindergartens  needed.  The  more  prosperous  por- 
tions of  the  city  are  well  supplied  with  kindergartens.  It 
would  appear  that  in  locating  kindergartens  there  has  been 
no  comprehensive  study  of  the  needs  of  the  various  sections. 
Some  of  those  in  greatest  need  of  them  have  none  at  all. 
Where  there  is  great  need  there  is  naturally  little  realization  of 
the  need,  and  therefore  no  demand  has  made  itself  felt.  This 
does  not  relieve  the  school  department  of  the  duty  to  look  out 
for  portions  of  the  city  in  which  the  people  do  not  know  how 
to  look  out  for  their  own  interests.  A  kindergarten  is  greatly 
needed  in  each  of  the  following  schools:  Bonneville,  Irving, 
Onequa,  Poplar  Grove,  Washington,  and  Webster. 


II.  THE  COURSES  OF  STUDY  FOR  THE  ELEMENTARY 

SCHOOLS. 

It  may  be  said  at  the  outset  that  with  two  principal  excep- 
tions to  be  discussed  later,  manual  training  and  physical  train- 
ing, the  courses  of  study  as  outlined  for  the  Salt  Lake  City 
schools  are  worthy  of  much  commendation.  Unlike  many 
similar  publications,  the  volume  does  not  appear  to  be  a  mere 
compilation.  A  definite  theory  of  education  underlies  the 
development  of  each  subject,  and  unusual  attention  has  been 
paid  to  the  relation  which  one  subject  bears  to  another.  By 
means  of  the  close  correlation  thus  worked  out  great  economy 
of  time  is  possible,  both  in  teaching  and  in  learning. 


74  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

How  the  courses  of  study  were  made.  It  is  noteworthy 
that  in  preparing  the  present  courses  of  study  the  superin- 
tendent and  the  supervisors  were  aided  by  the  advice  of  a 
committee  of  five  teachers  'from  each  grade,  and  a  similar  com- 
mittee of  principals.  The  writing  of  the  courses  could  without 
doubt  have  been  more  quickly  done  in  the  superintendent's 
office,  without  time-consuming  consultations  with  members  of 
the  teaching  force.  Thus  prepared,  they  might  have  been 
quite  as  good,  or  even  better,  and  yet  have  failed  to  serve  as 
useful  a  purpose.  They  would  have  seemed  to  have  been 
imposed  by  authority  rather  than  adopted  as  a  result  of  co- 
operative effort,  whereas  courses  formulated  in  part  by  the 
teaching  force,  as  in  this  instance,  will  be  understood  by  all 
and  all,  having  had  a  certain  responsibility  in  their  prepara- 
tion and  adoption,  will  be  in  sympathy  with  their  aims  and 
standards. 

The  making  of  courses  of  study  is  best  managed  when  the 
preparation  is  utilized  as  an  opportunity,  as  has  been  done  in 
this  case,  to  increase  the  efficiency  of  the  teaching  force  by 
securing  the  thoughtful  participation  of  teachers  in  the  work 
and  responsibility  involved.  For  these  reasons  the  plan  under 
which  the  Salt  Lake  City  courses  o'f  study  were  formulated  is 
to  be  commended.  The  committees  to  which  reference  has 
been  made  were  appointed  by  the  superintendent.  Similar 
committees  elected  by  the  teachers  themselves  are  now  delib- 
erating, not  only  on  further  desirable  revisions  of  the  courses, 
but  also,  at  the  invitation  of  the  superintendent,  upon  any  other 
feature  of  school  procedure  about  which  they  care  to  make 
recommendations. 

Wherever  such  co-operative  relations  exist  between  the 
supervising  officers  and  the  teaching  force  in  a  school  system 
one  may  reasonably  expect  the  favorable  results  that  always 
come  from  team  work.  In  their  visits  to  the  schools  the  mem- 
bers of  the  survey  staff  have  been  at  some  pains  to  find  out 
whether  there  is  in  fact  in  the  Salt  Lake  'City  schools  the 
mutual  confidence  land  co-operation  between  teachers  and 


THE  COURSES  OF  STUDY.  75 

supervisory  officers  which  their  plan  would  lead  one  to  expect. 
It  is  our  opinion  that  such  a  relation  has  'been  developed  to  a 
good  degree,  and  that  its  effects  are  evident  in  the  daily  pro- 
cedure in  most  of  the  school  rooms  visited. 

What  the  courses  prescribe.  The  courses  of  study  pre- 
scribe minimum  attainments  which  children  must  possess  as  a 
condition  of  promotion.  Beyond  this  minimum  great  freedom 
is  allowed.  In  developing  any  course  of  study  for  any  grade 
beyond  the  minimum  which  is  deemed  attainable  by  the  slowest 
pupil,  the  superintendent  places  large  responsibility  upon  the 
principal,  so  that  he  may  adapt  the  work  to  any  need  peculiar 
to  the  local  community.  The  principal  in  turn  gives  large 
liberty  to  the  teacher  in  meeting  individual  needs  of  pupils, 
and  in  following  out  lines  of  interest.  Under  such  conditions 
the  teacher  cannot  degenerate  into  an  automaton.  She  re- 
quires the  children  to  think  for  themselves,  to  use  their  heads. 
This  emphasis  upon  thought  rather  than  mere  memory  was 
noticeable  in  nearly  all  school  rooms  that  were  visited.  There 
was  evidently  much  to  be  desired  on  the  score  of  broader  pre- 
liminary education  on  the  part  of  many  teachers,  yet  this  lack 
was  evidently  being  met,  to  a  considerable  extent,  by  the  stu- 
dent attitude  and  consequent  growth  in  power  characteristic 
of  a  body  of  teachers  who  are  being  stimulated  to  regard  their 
work  as  the  solution  of  a  series  of  vital  problems  rather  than 
as  a  routine  task. 

Diversity  in  time  allotments.  As  might  be  expected  in  a 
system  of  schools  in  which  considerable  freedom  is  accorded 
teachers,  there  is  much  diversity  in  the  time  allotted  to  the 
various  subjects  in  different  school  rooms  of  the  same  grade. 
This  is  clearly  shown  in  Table  No.  12.  One  cannot  say  so 
many  minutes  per  day  are  devoted  to  spelling  in  the  sixth 
grade  of  the  Salt  Lake  City  schools,  so  many  to  arithmetic,  and 
so  many  to  reading.  The  needs  of  the  particular  class  deter- 
mine the  time.  No  teacher  can  excuse  poor  work  by  saying, 
"I  have  used  'faithfully  each  day  during  the  semester  the  time 
prescribed  for  the  subject.  It  is  therefore  not  my  fault  that 


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approxim 

SUBJECT 

1  Morals  and 
Manners 

1  Read  ing  and 
Literature 

1  Phonics  and 
Phonetics 

1| 

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Spelling 

Writing 

1  History,  Civics 
and  Sociology 

Nature  Study 

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o 

Arithmetic 

1  Physiology  f 
and  Hygiene 

1  Physical 
Education 

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Construction 

1  Domestic  Art  and 
Domestic  Science 

I  Mechanic  Arts 

*But  few  Classes. 
•{•Includes  Recess  Perioc 

THE  COURSES  OF  STUDY.  77 

the  children  have  not  met  the  minimum  requirement  of  the 
course  of  study."  The  time  was  the  teacher's  to  apportion. 
It  was  her  responsibility  to  gauge  the  relative  strength  of  the 
class  in  the  various  subjects,  and  work  out  a  time  schedule  to 
fit  the  particular  problem  presented  by  her  own  pupils ;  not 
only  to  work  it  out,  but  to  change  it  from  time  to  time  to  meet 
changing  needs  as  they  develop. 

Early  in  each  new  term  the  teacher  submits  to  the  princi- 
pal a  tentative  daily  program  for  his  approval.  This  program, 
either  as  first  presented  or  as  modified,  after  consultation,  is 
placed  on  the  blackboard  of  the  school  room,  to  be  followed 
till  some  modification  seems  desirable  when,  with  the  minimum 
of  red  tape,  the  desired  change  is  approved  and  made. 

Table  No.  12  was  made  up  from  blanks  filled  out  by  the 
teachers  themselves,  on  the  basis  of  time  schedules  actually 
posted  in  the  school  rooms  at  the  time  of  the  survey.  The 
variation  in  the  time  devoted  to  given  subjects  by  different 
teachers  of  the  same  grade,  as  shown  under  the  headings 
"Maximum"  and  "Minimum"  in  the  table,  are  so  great  as  to 
suggest  the  probability  that  some  subjects  are  being  neglected 
by  some  teachers,  while  other  subjects  are  overemphasized. 
While  believing  in  the  principle  of  freedom  on  the  part  of  the 
teacher  in  regulating  her  own  program,  and  in  corresponding 
responsibility  for  results,  the  survey  would  suggest  the  desir- 
ability of  a  more  careful  examination  and  criticism  by  some 
principals  of  the  time  schedules  for  their  classes  before  ap- 
proval. 

From  a  study  of  Table  12  this  responsibility  on  the  part  of 
the  principal  would  appear  to  have  been  performed  in  many 
instances  in  a  somewhat  perfunctory  manner.  In  order  that 
so  much  freedom  may  not  be  harmful  instead  of  helpful,  all 
who  are  charged  with  responsibility  in  such  matters  must  live 
up  to  that  responsibility.  Where  such  extreme  variations  as 
appear  in  this  table  become  common,  it  is  not  a  matter  for 
surprise  that  many  superintendents  feel  driven  to  the  unfor- 
tunate necessity  of  going  to  the  opposite  extreme  and  prescrib- 


78  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT.  " 

ing  time  limits  as  the  lesser  of  two  evils.  The  recommenda- 
tion of  the  survey  is  that  the  freedom  in  this  regard  that  now 
o'btains  in  Salt  Lake  City  be  not  curtailed,  but  that  principals 
and  teachers,  by  study  and  consultation,  arrive  at  a  consensus 
in  the  matter  which  will  result  in  a  more  uniform  apportion- 
ment of  time  than  now  obtains.  However,  it  would  not  be  out 
of  harmony  with  the  general  plan  of  the  course  of  study  to 
make  a  minimum  prescription  as  to  the  time  to  be  devoted  to 
each  subject,  grade  by  grade,  if  sufficient  time  were  left 
unclassified  to  give  the  teacher  reasonable  scope  for  shifting 
emphasis  from  one  subject  to  another  as  occasion  might  seem 
to  her  to  require.  The  policy  of  teacher  participation,  under 
which  the  Salt  Lake  City  courses  of  study  have  been  formulated 
and  from  time  to  time  revised,  is  commended  as  likely  to  secure 
sympathetic  and  intelligent  application  in  the  school  room,  and 
at  the  same  time  to  promote  professional  growth  of  teachers 
in  service. 

Pupils  who  cannot  accomplish  the  minimum.  It  is  noted 
in  the  foreword  that  the  course  "represents  the  minimum 
attainments  to  be  made  by  pupils  before  promotion  to  a  higher 
class,"  and  "to  secure  uniform  and  thorough  work  these  stan- 
dards should  be  carefully  observed." 

One  adverse  comment  must  here  be  made:  Although,  in 
the  courses  as  outlined,  only  minimum  attainments  are  insisted 
upon,  attainments  easily  within  the  reach  of  normal  minded 
children,  it  must  be  remembered  that  among  children  of  school 
age  everywhere  there  are  many  for  whom  mastery  of  the  ordi- 
nary courses  of  study  is  impossible.  The  -Salt  Lake  City  schools 
present  no  exception  to  this  world-wide  condition.  As  is 
shown  in  Chapter  IX,  there  are  approximately  600  children 
enrolled  in  the  schools  who  are  of  such  a  low  grade  of  men- 
tality that  they  cannot  profit  by  strict  adherence  to  even  the 
minimum  requirements  of  courses  of  study  prepared  'for  normal 
children.  In  its  insistence  upon  "uniform  and  thorough" 
work,  without  exceptions  either  stated  or  implied,  the  demand 


THE  COURSES  OF  STUDY.  79 

is  altogether  too  sweeping.  It  is  likely  to  be  misleading,  too^ 
since  in  the  ordinary  school  rooms  throughout  the  city  there 
are  many  children  of  this  class  who  for  various  reasons  are  not 
transferred  to  the  special  (Twelfth)  school,  where  of  course 
it  is  understood  that  the  regular  curriculum  need  not  be  fol- 
lowed. 

Furthermore,  it  is  questionable  whether  the  ordinary 
courses  of  study  are  suitable  for  a  relatively  large  group  of 
children  found  in  all  school  systems  who,  while  not  feeble 
minded,  are  unable  to  deal  effectively  with  printed  symbols, 
and  who  are  consequently  handicapped  in  their  progress 
through  those  courses  of  study  which  are  best  fitted  for  such 
children  as  can  readily  gain  ideas  'from  the  printed  page. 

No  exact  statement  can  be  made  as  to  the  number  of  chil- 
dren of  this  type.  Estimates  vary  from  10  to  30  per  cent  of 
the  entire  enrollment.  One  cannot  study  the  statistics  of 
retardation  in  the  Salt  Lake  City  schools,  as  presented  in  Chap- 
ter IX,  without  coming  to  the  conclusion  that  the  conditions 
just  set  forth,  and  found  to  exist  throughout  the  country  as  a 
whole,  also  exist  here.  At  this  stage  of  progress  in  our  knowl- 
edge of  the  needs  of  children  of  this  type,  it  would  be  too 
much  to  expect  that  courses  of  study  should  provide  any  com- 
plete scheme  for  the  education  of  pupils  who  are  retarded 
through  inability  to  think  in  symbols ;  but  every  school  system 
should  recognize  the  presence  in  the  schools  of  a  considerable 
number  of  such  children,  and  in  general  terms  indicate  the 
limits  within  which  prescribed  "minimum  attainments"  are  to 
be  insisted  upon.  Some  possible  and  desirable  substitutions 
ifor  the  present  prescribed  work  will  be  offered  later  in  this 
report.  The  problem  demands  careful  study,  and  the  fine 
attitude  of  principals  and  teachers  toward  attacking  vital 
questions  should  be  utilized  to  formulate  a  working  plan  for 
the  next  revision,  which  will  be  adapted  to  local  conditions, 
and  by  means  of  which  the  children  who  are  at  present  misfits 
in  the  regular  courses  may  find  a  more  objective  approach  to 
the  school  arts  than  current  practices  provide. 


80  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 


III.     THE  SCHOOL  SUBJECTS  IN  DETAIL. 

1.    Morals,  Manners,  and  Civics. 

Prominence  given  to  this  subject.  Prominence  is  given  to 
a  chapter  on  morals,  manners,  and  civics  by  giving  it  first  place 
in  the  printed  outline.  It  would  not  be  easy  to  suggest  a  bet- 
ter selection  of  topics  for  emphasis  than  are  here  presented. 
There  can  be  no  question  that  the  phase  of  a  school's  influence 
on  the  lives  of  its  pupils  represented  by  this  chapter  is  of  the 
highest  importance.  "We  may  even  say  that  the  part  of  the 
work  of  the  schools  covered  by  the  topics  in  this  chapter 
transcends  in  importance  all  the  other  work  outlined  without 
in  the  least  overstating  the  case;  and  yet  the  question  arises, 
would  it  not  be  better  to  teach  morals,  manners,  and  civics  as 
the  occasion  calls  for  such  instruction  through  the  work  out- 
lined as  Beading,  Literature,  History,  Civics,  and  Sociology? 

The  question  here  raised  is  not  upon  the  importance  of 
this  phase  of  instruction,  but  upon  the  most  effective  way  of 
giving  it.  Teachers  are  likely  to  get  the  impression,  from  the 
apparent  segregation  of  this  part  of  the  course  from  the  por- 
tions of  which  it  is  naturally  a  part,  that  it  is  a  subject  by 
itself  and  adequately  dealt  with  only  when  given  a  separate 
place  on  the  daily  program.  It  is  readily  admitted  that  this 
view  has  the  support  of  many  whose  opinions  are  entitled  to 
respect. 

Both  methods  of  teaching  of  morals,  the  direct  method  and 
the  incidental  method,  are  enjoined  in  the  outline.  If  a  sep- 
arate period  is  to  be  set  apart  for  this  work,  the  one  suggested 
in  the  course  of  study,  the  period  devoted  to  the  opening  exer- 
cises of  the  morning,  is  more  appropriate  than  any  other  period 
of  the  day. 

2.    The  Language,  or  English  Group. 
Emphasis  on  English  work.     The  following  closely-related 


THE  COURSES  OF  STUDY.  81 

subjects  are  included:  Reading  and  literature,  phonics,  lan-_ 
guage  and  grammar,  spelling  and  writing.  Sixty-four  pages 
of  the  course  of  study  are  devoted  directly  to  these  various 
phases  of  English  work,  and,  in  addition,  suggestions  for  util- 
izing the  abundant  opportunities  for  English  teaching  afforded 
by  other  studies  are  of  frequent  occurrence.  Everywhere  in 
the  course  of  study  clear  and  forceful  expression  is  empha- 
sized. This  is  particularly  true  in  history  and  geography.  On 
page  153  we  find  the  following  statement : 

"Geography  offers  excellent  opportunities  for  training  in  oral  and 
written  language.  Proper  training  in  thought  processes  should  at  the 
same  time  develop  power  of  oral  and  written  expression.  Give  careful 
attention  to  the  mode  of  expression  in  both  oral  and  written  work,  but 
do  not  restrict  freedom  of  expression  by  ill-timed  criticism.  When  one 
pupil  is  reciting,  require  respectful  attention  from  all  others." 

On  p.  114,  "Much  of  the  foregoing  subject  matter  (his- 
tory) may  be  considered  in  language";  and,  on  p.  121,  "An 
excellent  opportunity  is  presented  in  the  study  of  history  to 
create  an  appreciation  of  and  a  love  for  many  beautiful  and 
inspiring  literary  productions,  poems,  and  songs."  Suitable 
selections  are  suggested.  A  careful  examination  of  the  chap- 
ters dealing  with  different  phases  of  English  work  leads  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  course  has  been  worked  out  with  care  and 
intelligence,  and  in  its  content  is  in  general  accord  with  the 
theory  and  practice  in  teaching  English  which  prevails  in  the 
best  school  systems  of  the  country. 

Reading1  and  Literature.  The  strong  points  in  the  treat- 
ment of  this  phase  of  the  work  seem  to  be : 

1.  The  effectiveness  of  the  method  used  in  teaching  be- 
ginners to  read.  During  the  first  two  or  three  years  of  a 
child's  school  life  proficiency  in  reading  is  the  main  requisite 
for  promotion  from  grade  to  grade,  and  a  pupil's  progress 
throughout  the  school  course  is  influenced  largely  by  his  power 
to  read  and  interpret  the  books  to  which  he  has  access.  From 
the  first  attention  is  centered  upon  the  meaning  of  what  is  read. 


82  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

2.  The  ban  is  placed  upon  nagging1  about  minor  inaccu- 
racies.     "Placing  undue  stress  upon  errors,  grammatical  con- 
struction and  inflections,  per  se,  will  do  little  to  secure  cogent 
thinking  and  fluent  and  flexible  expression."     (p.  47.) 

3.  "The 'stir  of  the  inner  man,  not  the  criticisms  of  outer 
manifestations,  makes  for  improvement,  development,  growth." 
(p.  43.) 

4.  Emphasis  upon  the  importance   of  strong  selections, 
possessing  unity  of  effect. 

5.  The  insistence  upon  the  teacher's  seeing  the  end  of 
each  reading  lesson,  upon  purpose,  plan,  and  a  well-thought- 
out  presentation. 

6.  Dramatization  as  an  adjunct  to  good  reading. 

7.  The  care  taken  to  insure  home  reading. 

Several  suitable  books  have  been  suggested  in  connection 
with  the  prescribed  reading,  in  classes  above  the  third  grade, 
and  pupils  are  shown  how  they  can  obtain  these  books.  An 
incidental  aim  is  to  teach  pupils  the  use  of  a  library  and  to 
bring  them  frequently  into  its  environment.  The  results  are 
held  to  be,  to  an  extent  at  least,  a  measure  of  the  teacher's 
power  to  inspire  her  pupils  with  a  genuine  love  of  reading. 

Good  oral  reading.  A  departure  from  the  usual  procedure 
in  oral  reading,  and  one  likely  to  forward  this  aim,  was  noted 
with  approval  in  two  class  rooms.  Ordinarily  the  child  who 
is  reading  has  no  audience  in  any  true  sense.  All  members  of 
the  class  have  the  same  book  and  follow  more  or  less  atten- 
tively the  reader's  performance.  He  has  no  very  strong  motive 
for  clear  enunciation  or  the  cultivation  of  a  tone  that  will  carry 
to  distant  parts  of  the  room.  No  one  needs  to  depend  upon 
his  performance  in  order  to  understand  the  paragraph  or  the 
selection  which  he  reads.  In  these  two  instances  the  reading 
was  from  an  interesting  library  book, — not  the  regular  school 
reader.  Only  one  copy  was  available,  but  the  children  who 
in  succession  read  from  this  book  had  a  real  audience,  and  they 
held  their  audience,  too.  There  was  the  keenest  interest  in  the 
story,  and  the  attention  was  absolute. 


THE  COURSES  OF  STUDY.  83 

If  a  reader  failed  momentarily  to  make  himself  under- 
stood, mass  sentiment  made  itself  felt.  The  effort  of  the 
reader  was  directed  toward  making  the  class  understand  the 
story.  The  story  was  one  that  the  class  wished  to  understand, 
consequently  the  exercise  claimed  and  secured  the  undivided 
attention  of  all. 

The  practice  of  oral  reading  under  conditions  which  hold 
the  reader  responsible  for  making  the  thought  of  the  author 
understood  by  a  real  audience  ought  to  be  far  more  common 
in  schools  than  it  now  is. 

Where  improvements  might  be  made.  Two  reservations 
must  here  'be  made  with  regard  to  directions  otherwise  ex- 
cellent. 

1.  In  the  outline  for  first  grade,  teachers  are  warned  not 
to  allow  children  to  read  orally  till  they  can  read  smoothly. 

This  implies  that  children  just  beginning  to  read  are  re- 
quired to  commit  to  memory,  for  the  moment,  every  sentence 
that  they  read  orally.  They  then  look  up  from  the  book  and 
"deliver"  each  sentence  to  the  class. 

It  is  evident  that  only  very  brief  sentences  can  be  so  com- 
mitted and  delivered,  and  that  children  who  adhere  to  this 
practice  are  in  danger  of  being  held  to  the  reading  of  primer 
literature  long  after  they  have  sufficient  power  to  read  books 
of  real  merit,  but  containing  sentences  too  long  to  be  ren- 
dered glibly  and  without  any  stumbling.  In  the  beginning, 
if  the  child  himself  can  get  the  thought  from  the  printed  page, 
he  is  doing  the  essential  thing.  As  early  as  possible,  however, 
he  should  be  taught  to  read  by  phrases  rather  than  word  by 
woird,  in  order  to  facilitate  his  interpretation  of  an  author's 
thought. 

It  is  not  so  much  a  question  of  how  fluently  pupils  go 
through  a  certain  class  of  reading  matter,  as  a  question  of  the 
sort  of  reading  habits  that  are  being  formed. 

2.  The  course  is  entirely  lacking  in  directions  for  silent 
reading.     One    great   purpose   in   teaching   reading,    and   one 


84  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

which  should  receive  some  attention  even  from  the  first,  is  its 
value  for  the  reader's  own  benefit.  In  the  course  of  the  survey 
much  oral  reading  was  heard,  and,  on  the  whole,  it  was  good 
reading;  but  definite  practice  in  silent  reading  for  the  thought 
o»f  the  selection  was  never  seen  in  progress.  Powder  in  this 
direction  is  implied  in  the  provision  for  home  reading,  but 
there  should  be  definite  school  practice  in  order  to  make  sure 
of  adequate  results.  The  school  rooms  of  the  city  are  well 
supplied  with  reading  material.  This  is  especially  noticeable 
in  the  primary  grades,  where  even  in  the  first  grade  children 
read  from  ten  to  twelve  or  more  primers  and  first  readers.  In 
the  intermediate  grades  some  of  the  work  in  history  is  done  in 
the  reading  period.  This  is  true  also  of  hygiene.  In  both 
cases  the  text-books  used,  having  been  written  with  more 
regard  to  literary  form  than  some  books  of  their  class,  lend 
themselves  very  well  to  this  time-saving  plan. 

Phonics.  The  outline  in  Phonics  provides  for  the  neces- 
sary amount  of  work  in  ear  training  and  gives  a  good  working 
list  of  phonograms,  suffixes,  and  prefixes. 

The  introduction  of  diacritical  markings  is  very  wisely 
postponed  until  the  latter  half  of  the  third  year  in  school. 
The  outline  makes  no  definite  provision  for  instruction  in  the 
use  of  the  dictionary,  but  the  phonetic  study  prepares  pupils 
to  interpret  dictionary  markings  and  to  distinguish  the  root 
forms  from  which  words  are  evolved. 

The  course  is  progressive  and  practical. 

Language  and  grammar.  The  strength  of  the  work  in  the 
primary  grades  seems  to  'be  found  in : 

1.  Making  grammar  wrork  dramatic  and  in  confining  the 
exercises  to  troublesome  verbs,  as,  " action  and  object  exercises 
involving  the  verbs,  pronouns,  and  adjectives  used  in  class  B 
of  first  grade;   also  set;  sit;  sat;  lie;  lain;  lay;  laid."     (p.  72.) 

2.  Stimulating  the  imagination  of  the  pupils  by  the  use 
of  pictures.    "Pictures  are  always  available,  and,  if  good,  never 
fail  to  stimulate  the  interest  of  children.     *     *     Pictures  fur- 


THE  COURSES  OF  STUDY.  85 

nish  an  excellent  basis  for  imaginative  stories,  which  may  be 
given  orally  or  in  written  form."  (p.  67.)  In  circular  Xo.  14, 
the  primary  supervisor  gives  a  valuable  discussion  of  stories 
from  pictures.  She  begins  the  discussion  with  this  mucft 
needed  caution : 

"The  picture  story  has  too  often  meant  to  both  teacher 
and  pupil  a  description  of  the  picture,  when  it  should  mean 
the  story  which  the  picture  tells." 

3.  Giving  much  time  to  oral  expression  before  beginning 
written  work. 

"The  stimulation  of  the  desire  to  use  good  language,  and  much 
practice  in  correct  oral  expression  in  the  school,  are  imperative  to 
counteract  the  tendency  to  use  incorrect  forms  on  the  play-ground.'' 
(p.  .68.)  "No  written  work  to  be  required  in  this  class  (Second  A), 
but  much  drill  in  the  retelling  of  short  stories  limited  to  one  or  two 
characters,  and  a  single  action,  previously  told  by  the  teacher." 
(P.  72.) 

4.  Making  every  lesson  a  language  lesson.     "All  the  lan- 
guage work  o;f  this  class  (First  A)  should  be  oral  work,  and 
every   recitation    should  be  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  a  lan- 
guage lesson."      (p.  69.) 

5.  Committing  to  memory  many  fine  models  of  literature. 

"Selections  of  poetry  should  be  committed  to  memory  to  be  re- 
cited, to  be  sung,  to  be  made  the  subject  of  conversation.  This  exer- 
cise may  be  conducted  on  a  generous  scale."  (p.  67.) 

6.  The  frequent  use  of  the  dramatic  method  in  oral  com- 
position. 

"Dramatization  of  simple  stories  to  give  freedom  in  oral  expres- 
sion and  make  the  thought  of  the  story  real."  (p.  68.)  "The  stories 
and  poems  of  this  grade  (First  A)  are  to  be  told  and  recited  by  the 
teacher,  and  should  not  be  read  to  the  children."  (p.  69.) 

Spirit  of  the  upper-grade  work.  The  spirit  of  the  course 
in  Language  and  Grammar  outlined  for  the  grammar  grades 


86  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

is  illustrated  by  the  following  paragraphs  under  "Suggestions 
for  Grammar  Grades." 

"The  first  requirement  of  the  school  is  to  cause  the  child  to  be  at 
home  in  his  school  world;  to  express  his  thoughts  here  as  freely  and 
frankly  as  he  does  elsewhere;  to  be  as  spontaneous  in  his  expression 
in  school  as  he  is  out  of  it.  This  will  scarcely  come  to  pass  if  his 
mind  is  centered  too  much  on  the  form,  if  he  is  too  conscious  of  the 
possibility  of  error. 

"The  function  of  all  language  and  grammar  work  is  to  cause  the 
learner  to  come  into  full  possession  of  himself;  to  be  sensitive  and 
responsive  to  the  influence  of  thought;  to  be  able  to  express  himself 
fluently,  elegantly,  thoughtfully;  to  know  the  fitting  word  or  phrase 
and  to  know  why  it  is  the  most  fitting  term  to  use.  To  know  the 
parts  of  speech,  the  rules  and  definitions  of  technical  English,  and 
the  analysis  of  each  and  every  sentence,  only  is  really  worth  while 
when  this  knowledge  can  be  transformed  into  working  capital  which 
can  be  invested  properly  and  profitably  in  all  the  occasions  of  £he 
life  of  thought." 

Some  of  the  admirable  qualities  in  language  work  for 
grammar  grades  are : 

1.  Composition  laws  and  grammar  rules  are  considered  of 
value  only  so  far  as  they  aid  the  pupil  to  speak  and  write  with 
clearness,  force  and  ease. 

2.  The  insistence  upon  the  study  of  model  selections  in 
teaching  composition  and  appreciating  the  ideal  in  literature. 

3.  The  idea  that  language  study  is  a  part  of  every  lesson. 
"Language  teaching  is  not  to  be  confined  to  the  language  lesson 

alone.  Every  lesson  is  to  a  degree  a  language  lesson.  It  is  of  little 
avail  to  lay  stress  on  rules  of  language  during  the  regular  lesson,  and 
then  for  all  the  rest  of  the  day  permit  children  to  be  careless  in  their 
talk  and  written  work."  (p.  84.) 

4.  The  equal  emphasis  upon  oral  and  'written  expression. 

5.  The  emphasis  upon  content  as  well  as  form. 

"Subjects  for  conversation  and  for  composition  are  always  to  be 
adapted  to  the  age,  knowledge,  and  interests  of  the  children.  Some- 
thing to  say  and  a  desire  to  say  it  are  both  essential  prerequisites  to 
good  language."  (p.  86.) 


THE  COURSES  UF  STUDY.  87 

6.     Constant  attention  to  enlarging  the  students'  vocab- 
ularies. 

"In  all  language  work  the  child  must  not  only  be  taught  to  master 
his  vocabulary,  but  he  must  be  taught  to  acquire  a  vocabulary  worthy 
of  mastery.  If  the  child  is  to  acquire  an  adequate  and  worthy  vocab- 
ulary, the  teacher  must  purposefully  guide  him  in  the  acquisition  and 
use  of  that  vocabulary."  (p.  85.) 


3.    Spelling 

Directions  for  the  work  in  spelling1.  The  suggestions  and 
.directions  for  teaching  spelling  given  in  the  course  of  study 
are  excellent.  A  spelling  book  is  used,  beginning  with  the 
third  grade.  Work  in  phonics  which,  as  a  distinct  course, 
terminates  with  the  third  grade,  is  not  to  be  neglected.  A 
review  of  the  phonograms  previously  taught  is  called  for  in  the 
fourth  grade  course  in  spelling.  In  the  fourth  and  every  suc- 
ceeding grade  to  the  eighth  the  correlation  idea  is  emphasized 
in  the  following  direction: 

"Many  words  are  to  be  learned  as  they  are  needed  in  the  study  of 
different  subjects,  or  as  the  child's  written  expression  demands. 
Spelling  drill  should  be  a  lively  exercise." 

This  excellent  suggestion  also  appears : 

"Prevention  is  better  than  cure  in  spelling,  and  the  skilled  teacher 
will  aim  to  avoid  all  errors  by  making  necessary  suggestions  before 
the  lesson  is  studied,  not  after.  There  will  be  some  errors  even  with 
this  careful  assignment,  but  the  number  will  be  small  and  may  receive 
individual  attention." 

And  again :  Anticipate  errors  in  spelling  and  try  to  safe- 
guard the  pupils  against  making  them.  It  is  easier  to  do  than 
to  undo  and  do.  Also :  Oral  spelling  is  advocated  "for  guar- 
anteeing the  correct  sound  interpretation,  but — "The  written 
form  is  the  final  form  and  the  one  most  used  in  normal  life 
after  school;  consequently  it  should  be  the  real  test  of  a  pupil's 
capability. ' ' 


88  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

The  use  of  the  dictionary  is  enjoined  and  some  of  the  pos- 
sible causes  of  poor  spelling  are  pointed  out. 

Time  given  to  the  spelling.  Although  the  time  devoted  to 
spelling  is  not  prescribed  in  the  course  of  study,  it  is  evidently 
regarded  by  the  teachers  as  a  highly  important  subject.  In 
many  of  the  grammar  grades  fully  half  an  hour  per  day,  or 
one-tenth  of  the  entire  school  time,  is  devoted  to  study  and 
recitation  in  this  subject,  and  even  a  longer  expenditure  of 
time  is  not  uncommon.  Keen  interest  is  stimulated  by  a  lively 
competition  between  schools,  and  by  uniform  competitive  tests 
formulated  in  the  office  of  the  superintendent.  As  measured 
by  the  survey  by  means  of  the  Ayres  standard  tests,  as  will 
be  described  in  some  detail  in  Chapter  VIII,  the  results  of  this 
rather  extreme  attention  to  spelling  show  in  a  very  high 
score;  but  it  is  a  question  whether  the  children  of  Salt  Lake 
City  are  not  sacrificing  something  in  other  lines  by  devoting 
so  large  a  proportion  of  the  total  time  available  to  spelling. 

The  first  investigator  of  note,  Dr.  J.  M.  Rice,  concluded 
that  more  than  fifteen  minutes  a  day  devoted  to  spelling  was 
time  absolutely  wasted.  According  to  this  view  five  per  cent 
of  the  total  time  would  be  ample,  yet,  estimated  on  the  basis 
of  the  median  of  the  table,  Salt  Lake  City  children  spend  eight 
and  three-tenths  per  cent  of  the  total  time  upon  this  subject. 
During  the  year  1909  the  elementary  schools  of  Boston,  New 
York,  Chicago,  Rochester,  Cincinnati,  Indianapolis,  St.  Louis, 
Milwaukee,  Kansas  City,  San  Francisco  and  Cleveland  devoted 
an  average  of  only  five  and  seven-tenths  per  cent  of  their  time 
to  spelling  (estimated  from  Table  No.  13),  a  proportion  not 
greatly  in  excess  of  Dr.  Rice's  suggested  maximum.  Accord- 
ing to  average  standards  the  children  in  the  Salt  Lake  City 
schools  are  good  spellers.  We  would  not  say  they  spell  too 
well,  but  we  believe  as  good  results  could  be  secured  with  less 
expenditure  of  time. 

Some  admirable  characteristics  of  the  course  of  study  in 
spelling  are : 

1.  The  insistence  in  all  spelling  work  upon  anticipating 
errors. 


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90  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

2.  Emphasis  upon  the  relation  of  pronunciation  to  spell- 
ing. 

3.  The  constant  injunction  to  relate  spelling  to  composi- 
tion activities.      "The  real  test  of  good  spelling  is  found  in 
the  written  composition. " 

4.  Emphasis  upon  training  children  to  use  the  dictionary. 

5.  Insistence  upon  selecting  words  from  geography,  his- 
tory, etc. 

6.  Much  drill  upon  lists  of  words  commonly  misspelled. 

4.    Writing. 

The  method  used.  In  the  first  half  of  the  first  grade  the 
course  of  study  calls  for  free  work  with  chalk  on  the  black- 
.  board,  to  train  the  children  to  the  control  of  their  larger  arm 
muscles.  In  the  second  half  unruled  paper  is  used  in  addition 
to  the  blackboard.  Large  writing  with  full  arm  movement  is 
enjoined, — no  guide  lines  until  the  second-B  grade  is  reached. 
The  course  allows  comparatively  little  writing  with  pencil,  but 
much  upon  the  blackboard.  After  this  more  writing  may  be 
required  of  pupils,  but  care  is  to  be  exercised  lest  fatigue 
engender  carelessness  of  effort.  Correct  movement,  proper 
position,  and  reasonable  speed  are  to  be  insisted  upon.  The 
letter  forms  are  those  now  generally  used  in  schools,  a  medium 
slant. 

The  survey  staff  is  of  the  opinion  that  the  writing  of  the 
children  in  the  Salt  Lake  City  schools  compares  favorably  with 
that  found  in  other  cities,  and  the  tests  described  in  Chapter 
VIII  show  that  it  is  considerably  above  the  average. 

5.    History,  Civics,  and  Sociology. 

The  general  plan.  The  course  of  study  in  history  pro- 
vides for  the  teaching  of  United  States  history  in  the  fifth, 
sixth,  and  eighth  grades.  In  the  eighth  grade,  B  class,  a 


THE  COURSES  OF  STUDY.  91 

general  review  of  United  States  history  is  called  for,  following 
a  well-prepared  outline.  Besides  the  regular  text-book  with 
which  each  pupil  is  supplied,  several  reference  books  of  wider 
scope  are  accessible  to  the  pupils  of  each  eighth-grade  room, 
and  several  desk  books  of  excellent  quality  are  provided  for 
the  teachers. 

In  the  seventh  grade  United  -States  history  is  incidental 
to  the  work  in  geography.  North  America  is  the  topic,  and 
it  is  enjoined  that  historical  information  pertaining  to  the 
division  being  studied  shall  receive  special  consideration. 
United  States  history  through  biography  has  a  place  in  every 
grade  below  the  fifth,  through  such  study  of  one  or  more  of  our 
great  historical  personalities  as  is  suited  to  the  age  of  the  chil- 
dren. It  is  included  in  these  grades  chiefly  on  account  of  its 
ethical  value.  The  ethical  aim,  in  fact,  dominates  the  course  in 
history  as  a  whole.  The  following  statement  found  in  the 
course  of  study  will  illustrate  this: 

"No  other  subject  so  touches  both  the  head  and  heart  of  man- 
kind. The  ethical  impulse  should  be  the  basis  of  all  instruction  in 
all  grades.  It  is  the  goodness  of  mankind  that  has  evolved  the  good 
of  civilization,  and  the  child  should  be  taught  to  appreciate  the 
nobility  of  those  whose  acts  constitute  the  history  of  the  race  and 
have  determined  the  progress  of  ideas."  (p.  108.) 

Attention  to  local  history.  Much  attention  is  given  in 
each  grade  to  local  history  and  institutions.  In  the  fifth  grade, 
A  class,  the  history  of  Utah  receives  especial  emphasis.  An 
excellent  outline  is  furnished.  In  the  fifth  grade,  B  class,  and 
in  the  sixth  grade,  emphasis  is  placed  upon  the  functions  of 
the  various  departments  of  the  city  government.  Too  much 
praise  cannot  be  given  to  the  treatment  suggested  for  such 
topics  as  the  police  department,  the  fire  department,  the  health 
department,  the  garbarge  system,  irrigation,  public  parks,  the 
city's  water  system  and  the  general  plan  of  city  government. 

An  especially  noteworthy  feature  of  the  work  in  Civics  is 
the  way  in  which  each  city  department  head  has  been  led  to 


92  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

co-operate  with  the  schools  by  furnishing  an  outline  or  descrip- 
tion of  the  functions  of  his  department,  and  the  way  it  fits  into 
the  general  scheme  of  city  government.  At  the  invitation  of 
the  grammar-grade  supervisor  the  department  heads  meet  the 
teachers,  from  time  to  time,  and  explain  in  detail  the  scope  of 
the  work  which  they  have  previously  outlined  in  somewhat 
brief  form.  The  survey  staff  is  of  the  opinion  that  like  enter- 
prise on  the  part  of  supervisory  officers,  resulting  in  hearty 
co-operation  on  the  part  of  city  department  heads  in  dealing 
with  community  civics,  is  far  from  common,  and  they  com- 
mend it  without  reservation. 

Excellent  features   of  the   course.     Among  the  excellent 
features  of  the  course  under  discussion  we  note : 

(1)  The  emphasis  placed  upon  making  history  (a)  vivid, 
(b)  a  source  for  creating  ideals,  (c)  correlation  in  the  method 
of  presentation  with  the   composition  approach  to   a  subject 
(pages  68  and  69,  with  109). 

(2)  The  emphasis  upon  purposeful  work.      The  purpose 
in  the  early  work  is  apparently  not  to  teach  facts,  but  to  instill 
ideals  by  making  historic  personalities  and  national  and  local 
scenes  live  again  in  the  imaginations  of  the  children. 

(3)  That  directions  are  given  to  consider  much  of    the 
subject  matter  as  suited  to  the  language  work. 

(4)  The  definiteness  with  which  the  course  in  history  is 
presented  to  the  teachers. 

(5)  Investigations  'by  classes  are  recommended. 

(6)  The  course  for  upper  grammar  grades  should  stim- 
ulate a  sense  of  gratitude  for,  and  loyalty  to  the  city  govern- 
ment. 

(7)  The  use  of  literary  selections  to  supplement  history 
talks  is  suggested,  and  a  suitable  list  is  given. 

6.    Nature  Study. 

The  printed  outline.     Although  nature  study  is  outlined  as 
a  separate  subject,  the  fact  that  geography,  history,  and  nature 


THE  COURSES  OF  STUDY.  93 

work  in  the  elementary  school  should  be  considered  as  a  unit  is 
not  lost  sight  of.     We  find  this  paragraph : 

"Nature  study  and  history,  industrially  and  socially  considered, 
can  not  be  separated  from  geography  in  the  primary  grades.  Many  of 
the  basic  geographical  concepts  depend  upon  certain  physical  laws 
which  must  be  understood  to  gain  the  concept,  and  a  mental  picture 
of  some  of  the  great  migrations  of  the  race,  of  the  adjustments  and 
readjustments  of  a  people  to  a  changing  and  developing  environment 
on  the  great  march  of  progress,  are  necessary  to  give  meaning  and 
value  to  a  study  of  the  earth  as  the  home  of  man."  (p.  128.) 

The  desired  correlation  is  left  for  the  teacher  to  work  out. 
The  outline  might  to  advantage  do  more  in  this  direction.  The 
correlation  of  nature  study  with  language  is  hinted  at  in  the 
language  course  (p.  78),  but  not  emphasized.  In  the  case  of 
other  subjects  the  correlation  idea  is  usually  kept  in  the  fore- 
ground. 

The  human  aspect  of  the  course  is  made  prominent. 

"Children  are  not  interested  in  the  contour  or  relief  of  a  body  of 
land.  They  care  nothing  for  land  forms  or  water  divisions,  but  they 
are  intensely  interested  in  children  of  other  lands.  How  these  chil- 
dren look,  what  they  do,  how  they  live,  are  subjects  of  unfailing 
interest  and  wonder,  and  it  is  through  these  subjects  that  we  must 
reach  land  and  water  divisions  and  strictly  geographical  concepts." 
(p.  128-9.) 

The  work  in  each  grade  is  well  within  the  grasp  of  the 
average  city  child  with  limited  opportunity  for  observation. 
It  is  very  evidently  a  minor  course  in  the  primary-school  cur- 
riculum. The  natural  working  'from  the  home  out  into  the 
nation  is  a  commendable  feature  of  the  course  for  primary 
grades. 

The  work  outlined  for  the  grammar  grades  is  largely  geo- 
graphical, though  some  definite  work  in  physics  is  included. 
It  is  suggested  that  in  the  last  two  grammar  grades  at  least  one 
regular  period  per  week  be  devoted  to  this  subject. 

Diversity  in  kind  and  amount  of  work  done.     There  is 


94  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

considerable  diversity  in-  the  interpretation  of  the  course  in 
different  schools,  and  by  teachers  of  the  same  grade.  This, 
however,  is  seen  to  be  desirable  when  the  purpose  of  the  course 
is  taken  into  account.  The  training  in  observation  and  reason- 
ing from  cause  to  effect  is  considered,  as  it  should  be,  of  more 
importance  than  the  acquisition  of  set  facts.  The  teacher  can 
best  develop  these  powers  in  children  by  giving  most  prom- 
inence to  those  topics  which  most  appeal  to  her  own  interest, 
and  which  therefore  she  can  cause  to  be  of  interest  to  her 
class.  Nature  study  is  the  one  subject  in  the  course  in  which 
wide  latitude  may  be  accorded  to  the  individual  teacher  with- 
out defeating  the  purposes  which  the  course  is  intended  to 
serve.  This  would  seem  to  be  the  theory  also  as  to  different 
schools. 

For  instance,  in  one  school,  the  Webster,  bird  study  seemed 
at  the  time  of  the  survey  to  be  receiving  much  more  attention 
than  was  in  evidence  at  any  other  school  visited  by  the  survey. 
In  each  o!f  the  18  rooms  of  the  school  a  different  bird  had 
been  chosen  from  a  list  of  fifty,  common  to  the  locality.  After 
reasonable  time  for  study  of  the  bird  of  her  choice,  each 
teacher  made  an  outline  which  she  used  with  her  own  class, 
and  which  she  then  explained  to  the  other  seventeen  teachers 
of  the  school,  the  principal  having  meanwhile  caused  copies 
to  be  made  for  their  use.  Each  teacher  devoted  the  nature 
study  periods  of  six  weeks  to  the  bird  of  her  choice,  and  later 
two  periods  to  each  of  the  other  seventeen  birds,  having  as 
an  aid  in  this  task  the  outlines  prepared  by  her  colleagues. 
Some  encroachment  on  the  time  usually  devoted  to  drawing 
was  permitted. 

The  bird  chosen  for  intensive  study  by  a  class  was  studied 
first  from  life,  then  more  closely  from  a  stuffed  specimen.  In 
the  course  of  this  study  it  was  drawn  by  the  children  in  plain 
crayon,  then  its  habitat  was  drawn,  then  the  bird  in  its  habitat ; 
then  the  process  was  repeated  by  the  children  in  the  same 
order,  using  appropriate  colors.  Finally  the  bird  was  modeled 
in  clay  and  cast  in  plaster.  All  drawing  was  on  large  gray 


THE  COURSES  OF  STUDY.  95 

paper,  mounted  on  the  blackboard.  Surprisingly  good  results 
were  shown,  and  astonishingly  free  and  rapid  work.  The 
children  will  never  forget  the  characteristics  of  birds  thus 
studied.  A  fitting  climax  was  afforded  for  this  piece  of  co- 
operative work  by  the  grammar  grade  supervisor,  who  saw  to 
it  that  mimeograph  sets  of  the  outlines  prepared  by  the  teach- 
ers of  the  Webster  school  were  furnished  to  all  other  schools 
of  the  city.  This  particular  instance  of  sharing  the  benefits 
of  the  enterprise  of  one  school  with  the  city  as  a  whole  is  only 
a  single  sample  of  a  highly  commendable  custom  in  vogue  in 
the  Salt  Lake  City  schools. 

School  and  home  gardening.  The  course  of  study  lays 
stress  upon  the  school  garden  and  the  home  garden  as  ad- 
juncts in  nature  study.  In  this  particular,  as  well  as  in  its 
aim  to  cultivate  habits  of  observation  and  incidentally  to  im- 
part a  body  o'f1  useful  information,  the  course  suggested  for 
Salt  Lake  City  is  in  keeping  with  the  courses  suggested  for 
other  cities.  The  members  of  the  survey  did  not  see  evidences 
that  practice  was  generally  up  to  the  outlines  provided.  The 
school  board  has  recently  made  provision  for  exceptionally 
good  work  in  this  subject  in  some  of  the  outlying  sections,  by 
purchasing  ample  tracts  of 'land  in  connection  with  a 'few  of 
its  newer  buildings,  but  in  connection  with  the  older  schools 
little  or  nothing  is  done. 

The  Whittier  school  furnishes  the  best  example  of  the 
use  which  may  be  made  of  the  land  for  educational  purposes. 
Of  its  nine-acre  tract,  two  and  one-half  acres  are  devoted  to 
the  school  garden.  Plans  for  group  gardens  and  individual 
gardens  are  worked  out  in  the  school  as  a  part  of  the  regular 
course  in  nature  study.  Garden  work  is  done  outside  of 
school  hours,  and  during  the  vacation  period.  The  part  of 
the  product  belonging  to  individuals  is  taken  to  the  homes 
to  supply  family  needs.  The  portion  belonging  to  the  school, 
after  being  displayed  by  sample 'at  the  State  Fair  and  in 
bulk  at  the  school,  is  sold  to  school  patrons  at  regular  mar- 


96  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

ket  prices.  Last  year  the  money  was  used  to  buy  imported 
flower  bulbs.  These  were  planted  in  October  by  all  teachers 
and  pupils,  in  conformity  with  a  color  scheme  in  the  evolution 
of  which  all  had  had  a  part.  The  aim  was  to  secure  individual 
interest  in  a  community  problem.  At  one  time  early  last 
spring  1200  to  1500  flowers  were  in  bloom. 

The  school  site  purchased  by  the  Board  of  Education  in- 
cluded part  of  an  old  fruit  orchard.  The  trees  were  pruned 
by  school  boys  with  tools  from  the  manual  training  shop,  the 
work  being  done  under  the  direction  of  the  principal  of  the 
school  and  the  superintendent  of  parks.  As  a  result  of  this 
pruning  the  trees  were  loaded  with  fruit  the  next  season.  The 
fruit  was  green  when  school  opened  in  September,  but  was 
allowed  to  remain  on  the  trees  untouched  if  or  four  weeks,  until 
it  was  thoroughly  ripe.  It  was  then  picked  by  committees  of 
pupils  and  taken  to  the  domestic  science  room,  where  a  part  of 
it  was  canned  by  the  girls  as  a  lesson  in  the  regular  course  in 
cooking.  The  portion  that  was  not  used  in  making  jam,  jelly, 
plum  'butter,  etc.,  was  distributed  among  the  pupils  in  the 
various  class  rooms.  The  canned  fruit  was  displayed  at  the 
State  Fair. 

Tljis  eminently  practical  application  of  nature  study,  made 
under  the  direction  of  the  principal  of  the  Whittier  school, 
is  not  surpassed  by  any  similar  enterprise  in  a  public  .school 
system  elsewhere  with  which  the  members  of  the  survey  are 
acquainted.  It  represents  a  tendency  which  is  beginning  to 
make  itself  felt  in  the  "Back  to  the  Land"  movement  in  many 
of  our  cities,  and  it  is  worthy  of  all  the  encouragement  which 
school  officials  can  give  it.  This  case  of  individual  work  ought 
to  become  common  in  the  city.  The  educational  value  of  such 
work  is  very  large. 

7.    Arithmetic. 

Nature  of  the  printed  course.  The  courses  of  study  in 
arithmetic  throughout  the  country  are  now  so  nearly  alike  in 


THE  COURSES  OF  STUDY.  97 

requirements  that  the  chief  difference  between  any  two  courses 
is  in  the  'form  of  statement  and  the  kinds  of  exercises  pre- 
scribed. Grade  limits  are  practically  the  same.  In  Salt  Lake 
City,  children  in  the  first  grade  count  within  the  limit  of  100, 
add  within  the  limit  of  ten  and  they  learn  how  many  2's  in  4, 
3's  in  6,  etc.  There  is  no  haste.  Number  facts  are  to  be  dis- 
covered, and  not  told  or  explained.  The  discoveries  are  to  be 
made  through  the  exercise  of  motor  activity.  Attention  is 
called  to  the  fact  that  mental  growth  is  even  more  a  question 
of  time  than  physical  growth.  Therefore  teachers  are  advised 
to  see  that  conditions  are  such  that  the  child  if  mentally  ready 
will  reach  the  number  fact  or  relation  desired.  If  he  cannot 
reach  that  fact  or  relation  without  help  he  is  not  ready  for 
that  step,  and  the  teacher  is  to  wait  patiently  for  growth  in 
mental  power.  This  is  sound  doctrine  and  it  represents  the 
practice  now  general  in  progressive  school  systems. 

Number  facts  and  relations  are  to  be  developed  ob- 
jectively, with  no  written  work  in  first  grade,  and  only  a  mod- 
erate amount  in  the  second  grade.  The  multiplication  tables 
are  begun  in  the  third  grade,  but  their  completion  is  not  called 
for  till  the  fourth  grade  is  reached.  In  the  fifth  grade  the 
emphasis  is  upon  fractions,  though  some  simple  oral  fractional 
work  has  occurred  earlier.  In  the  sixth  grade  decimal  frac- 
tions are  to  be  carefully  and  thoroughly  taught.  Percentage 
furnishes  the  chief  portion  of  the  seventh  grade  work,  and  in 
the  eighth  grade  special  applications  of  percentage  are  con- 
sidered and  the  earlier  work  of  the  course  is  reviewed.  This 
is  essentially  the  work  today  in  all  good  courses  of  study. 
Some  changes  in  upper  grade  work  for  the  seventh  and  par- 
ticularly the  eighth  will  be  discussed  further  on,  in  connection 
with  the  Junior  High  School. 

The  teaching  observed.  The  methods  of  teaching  this 
subject  observed  in  the  school  rooms  visited  were  substantially 
in  accord  with  the  sound  pedagogic  directions  of  the  course  of 
study.  The  time  devoted  to  the  subject  shows  the  same  wide 
variation  that  has  been  pointed  out  in  connection  with  spelling. 


98  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

The  average  time  given  to  arithmetic  in  the  eleven  cities  given 
in  Table  No.  13  is  15.2  per  cent  of  the  total  time.  The  median 
time  devoted  to  the  subject  in  Salt  Lake  City  is  16.6  per  cent 
of  the  total  time.  Both  the  time  given  to  the  subject  and  the 
results  shown  by  the  standard  tests,  described  at  length  in 
Chapter  IX,  make  it  clear  that  arithmetic  is  not  neglected  in 
Salt  Lake  City.  A  recent  circular  here  reproduced  will  serve 
to  show  the  intelligent  care  with  which  the  brief  directions  of 
the  course  of  study  are  supplemented,  from  time  to  time  and 
as  occasion  arises : 

January  27,  1914. 
To  Principals  and  Teachers: 

Arithmetic. 

The  Course  is  to  be  considered  as  mandatory  in  all  essential  par- 
ticulars, and  the  subject-matter  given  in  the  text  book  is  all  to  be 
taught.  It  is,  however,  necessary  to  consider  some  principles  and 
processes  as  relatively  more  important  than  others.  In  these,  pupils 
will  be  expected  to  reach  a  high  degree  of  efficiency  consistent  with 
age  and  normal  possibilities. 

In  the  following  graphic  representation  an  attempt  is  made  to 
show  at  a  glance  which  of  certain  essentials  should  be  emphasized 
or  reviewed.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  fundamental  processes  are 
to  be  thoroughly  taught  in  the  fourth  grade,  however,  that  they  are 
to  be  reviewed  and  strengthened  in  each  succeeding  grade.  The  sub- 
ject of  fractions  is  to  be  thoroughly  considered  in  the  fifth  grade,  but 
must  be  reviewed  and  strengthened  in  each  grade  above  the  fifth 
grade,  etc.  Thus  each  grade  above  the  grade  in  which  any  important 
principle  has  been  considered  will  be  expected  to  increase  the  effi- 
ciency of  pupils  in  that  subject  in  so  far  as  reviews  and  limited  teach- 
ing can  make  for  efficiency. 

In  the  reviews  care  must  be  exercised  to  add  new  power  and 
knowledge  as  well  as  to  make  present  possessions  clear  and  ready. 
Too  frequently  reviews  cover  the  old  ground  in  the  old  way  with  little 
or  no  profit. 

Grade  4     Grade  5     Grade  6     Grade  7     Grade  8 


a                a 

a 

a 

a 

Fundamental  Processes. 

b 

b 

b 

b 

Fractions 

Denominate  Numbers 

c 

c 

c 

and  Measurements 

d 

d 

Percentage  and  Interest 

e 

Business  Application 

G.  N.  CHILD, 
Supervisor  of  Grammar  Grades. 


THE  COURSES  OF  STUDY.  99 

8     Geography. 

The  course  good.  This  course  of  study  provides  for  the" 
study  of  geography  from  the  third  to  the  seventh  grades  ic  elu- 
sive. When  the  Salt  Lake  City  course  of  study  in  Geography 
is  compared  with  the  courses  for  our  better  city  school  systems, 
no  significant  differences  appear.  The  general  movement  in 
all  the  courses  is  now  from  the  home  and  its  environment  to 
the  earth  as  a  whole,  and  from  this  to  North  America  and  a 
detailed  study  of  the  United  States. 

The  Salt  Lake  City  course  emphasizes  the  study  of  home 
or  local  geography  in  an  especially  effective  way.  Few  places 
afford  better  opportunities  for  teaching  land  and  water  forms 
by  direct  personal  observation  than  does  the  Salt  Lake  Valley. 
The  use  of  the  sand  table  is  advised  and  practiced  in  the  third 
grade,  so  that  as  soon  as  the  impression  is  gained  through 
observation  its  expression  may  follow.  Pictures  and  objects 
are  collected  by  teachers  and  pupils  and  freely  used. 

The  outlines  and  the  suggestions  for  teaching  contained 
in  them  are  admirable.  They  are  definite,  without  being  too 
exhaustive,  and  the  plan  of  work  as  outlined  is  especially 
adapted  to  the  region  about  Salt  Lake  'City.  A  brief  survey  of 
the  modes  of  life  of  primitive  man  leads  up  to  a  study  of  farm- 
ing and  cattle  raising  under  modern  conditions  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  Great  Salt  Lake.  The  outline  includes  an  ex- 
perimental study  of  the  geographical  features  of  the  city  and 
surroundings,  and  of  the  formation  of  soil;  a  brief  survey  of 
dry  farming  in  Utah;  the  sugar-beet  industry;  sheep  and  cat- 
tle raising,  and  the  leading  manufactures. 

It  is  a  question  whether  the  study  of  the  sugar-beet  indus- 
try should  be  carried  so  far  in  this  grade,  since  eight-year-old 
children  are  scarcely  capable  of  contrasting  the  political 
effects  of  the  sugar-cane  industry  with  the  political  effects  of 
the  sugar-beet  industry.  Studies  of  social  and  political  causes 
and  effects  may  well  be  postponed  until  pupils  are  sufficiently 
matured  to  'form  intelligent  conclusions.  Initial  study  of  the 


100  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

world's  commerce  and  of  the  reasons  for  the  exchange  of  goods 
between  states  and  countries  is,  however,  quite  within  the 
grasp  of  third  grade  pupils,  and  the  teachers  who  present  the 
subject  as  outlined  are  laying  a  broad  foundation  for  future 
study  of  commercial  exchange.  On  the  whole,  these  outlines 
for  third  grade  geography  are  models  of  their  kind. 

The  instruction  observed.  The  home  city  and  the  home 
state  having  been  studied  intensively,  the  child  is  prepared  to 
comprehend  what  his  teacher  and  his  books  have  to  say  about 
other  political  divisions  and  cities.  This  is  the  method  advo- 
cated in  the  course.  It  is  the  method  of  comparison.  Map 
drawing  is  practiced  wholly  from  the  point  of  view  of  gaining 
power  to  interpret  maps.  It  is  justly  regarded  as  of  indis- 
pensable importance.  Eapidly  drawn  relief  and  outline  maps, 
with  just  the  amount  of  detail  called  for  in  the  topic  under 
consideration,  are  therefore  emphasized  in  all  grades. 

A  modern  course  in  geography  makes  large  demands  upon 
the  scholarship  and  resources  of  teachers.  In  a  recent  report 
of  the  Massachusetts  Board  of  Education  we  find  a  recogni- 
tion of  immensely  increased  scope  of  the  geography  of  today 
as  compared  with  that  of  half  a  century  ago : 

"It  is  hard  to  realize  the  immense  distance  that  separates  the 
scanty  sailor  geography  of  half  a  century  ago  from  the  complicated 
network  of  relations  of  physical,  social,  and  political  facts,  gathered 
in  50  years  of  untiring  research,  which  now,  under  the  name  of 
geography,  form  a  part  of  the  daily  food  of  all  children  in  the  ele- 
mentary schools." 

In  view  of  this  situation  it  is  essential  that  schools  'be 
liberally  supplied  with  suitable  books,  so  that  the  children  can 
obtain  for  themselves  the  greater  part  of  the  information  for 
which  the  course  of  study  calls.  The  school  board  of  Salt 
Lake  City  has  met  this  requirement  with  liberality.  The  chil- 
dren are  well  supplied  with  supplementary  geographical  read- 
ers, as  well  as  with  modern  basal  text-books  in  the  subject. 


THE  COURSES  OF  STUDY.  ,  101 

9.    Music. 

The  course  of  study  in  music  appears  to  be  very  carefully 
arranged  as  to  grading,  with  especial  and  detailed  directions 
to  the  teachers  in  the  lower  grades.  These  indicate  an  appre- 
ciation of  the  ideals  of  primary-grade  methods  in  music  as 
advocated  'by  the  leaders  in  the  teaching  of  the  subject. 

Instruction  observed.  It  was  evident  to  members  of  the 
survey,  as  they  observed  the  manner  in  which  exercises  in 
music  were  conducted,  that  much  well  directed  effort  has  been 
devoted  to  this  study  through  a  series  of  years.  When  the 
junior  high  school  plan  becomes  fully  established,  so  that  all 
instruction  in  the  seventh  and  eighth  grades  may  be  on  the 
departmental  plan,  the  music  work  of  these  grades  will  un- 
doubtedly show  better  results  than  are  now  generally  obtain- 
able, for  then  it  will  be  possible  to  have  the  instruction  given 
by  .teachers  who  have  shown  special  aptitude  for  the  work. 
At  present,  as  might  be  expected,  there  is  considerable  varia- 
tion in  the  enthusiasm  for  music  manifested  in  different 
schools,  according  as  they  are  less  or  more  fortunate  in  having 
upper-grade  teachers  who  have  talent  in  this  direction. 

In  the  Lafayette  'School  an  extremely  effective  plan  for 
furnishing  motive  for  good  music  work  is  carried  out  in  the 
morning  exercises.  The  children  of  each  of  the  twenty-two 
classes  sing  in  turn  for  the  entire  school.  As  the  school  has 
no  auditorium,  the  children  who  are  to  sing  assemble  in  the 
corridor  of  each  floor  on  successive  mornings.  All  doors  are 
open  and  the  children  in  the  rooms  sit  at  attention.  Thus  they 
learn  to  be  appreciative  listeners.  Several  of  the  teachers 
contribute  to  the  success  of  the  plan  ;by  singing  in  their  turn 
for  the  entertainment  of  the  pupils. 

10.     Art  and  Construction. 

Need  for  more  supervision.  At  the  time  of  the  survey  the 
art  work  in  the  grammar  grades  was  suffering  from  lack  of 


102  •  ;  •,  ^  ***  •     SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

>\tVs^55V  '*  :--*:    ••' 

supervision,  and  apparently  but  little  was  being  done.  Those 
of  the  grade  teachers  who  had  some  special  talent  for  the  work 
were  able  unaided  to  keep  up  their  interest  and  secure  results, 
but  the  majority  of  the  teachers  were  in  need  of  the  constant 
inspiration,  help,  and  suggestion  which  a  competent  supervisor 
could  give.  The  course  of  study  appears,  in  the  main,  to  be 
in  line  with  the  best  thought  on  the  subject,  but  to  a  teacher 
who  has  not  had  excellent  art  training  it  would  seem  too 
indefinite  to  serve  as  a  sufficient  guide.  There  are  few  grade 
teachers  who  can  do  creditable  work  in  this  department  with- 
out the  advantage  of  frequent  supervision,  no  matter  how 
minutely  the  course  is  laid  out  for  them. 

It  is  hard  to  understand  how  the  small  financial  saving 
brought  about  by  relegating  the  supervisor  of  art  work  to  a 
part-time  a-signment  in  one  of  the  high  schools  can  be  con- 
sidere^1  VTT  any  one  conversant  with  the  principles  of  good 
school  management,  as  a  justifiable  piece  of  economy.  As  mat- 
ters now  stand,  the  art  and  construction  work  is  planned  and 
supervised  in  the  primary  grades,  while  between  these  grades 
and  the  high  school  there  is  a  wide  gap  where  the  work  ap- 
pears to  be  deteriorating  by  reason  of  lack  of  expert  guidance. 
Other  cities  as  large  as  'Salt  Lake  City  employ  a  supervisor 
and  one  or  more  assistants.  The  unfortunate  effects  of  neglect 
in  this  department  should  be  remedied  without  delay.  There 
should  be  a  supervisor  in  charge  of  the  department  of  art  in- 
struction, and  the  director  of  art  and  construction  in  primary 
grades  should  be  an  assistant  in  the  department.  Responsi- 
bility should  not  be  divided.  If  such  severe  economy  as  has 
been  practiced  in  this  instance  had  been  really  necessary,  a 
less  harmful  plan  to  bring  it  about  would  have  been  to  retain 
the  supervisor  in  the  field  and  divide  the  primary  work  be- 
tween the  art  supervisor  and  the  primary  supervisor,  the  latter 
taking  the  work  in  construction.  This,  however,  is  not  advo- 
cated. Salt  Lake  City  should  employ  a  supervisor  in  this 
department  and  at  least  one  assistant,  if  it  is  desired  to  keep 
the  art  work  of  the  schools  abreast  of  the  times.  As  much 


THE  COURSES  OF  STUDY.  103 

supervision  of  art  as  this  is  found  in  cities  no  larger  than  Salt 
Lake  City,  and  in  some  of  these  special  teachers  are  employed- 
in  addition  to  teach  drawing  in  the  seventh  and  eighth  grades. 

The  art  and  handwork  outlines.  The  designs  used  as 
plates  in  the  special  course  of  study  in  art  and  handwork  for 
primary  grades  have  elements  that  are  too  scattered,  with  a 
very  poor  relation  of  the  several  parts  and  proportions.  The 
design  shapes  are  clumsy  and  uninteresting,  and  have  little  or 
no  relation  to  the  objects  which  they  are  supposed  to  dec- 
orate. Free  paper  cutting  is  almost  entirely  ignored.  This 
activity  is  most  valuable  to  pupils  in  acquiring  ability  to  repre- 
sent form  and  general  proportions.  It  should  be  used  fre- 
quently with  young  children  as  a  means  of  free  expression. 
The  drawings  printed  in  the  course  of  study  are  very  weak. 
The  lettering  is  poor,  and  the  arrangement  uninteresting. 
Every  plate  reproduced  in  any  course  of  art  instructiop  sjiould 
be  a  model  in  itself  of  good  drawing,  proper  arrangem^.  ,  ade- 
quate spacing,  and  well  proportioned  lettering.  However,  the 
photographs  accompanying  later  circulars  show  articles  in 
considerable  variety,  and  these  are  well  proportioned.  It  is 
fair  to  assume  therefore  that  the  next  edition  of  the  course  in 
primary  art  and  handwork  will  be  comparatively  free  from  the 
faults  just  noted. 

Drawing  in  the  lower  grades.  The  illustrative  drawing  in 
the  primary  grades  should  have  a  closer  relation  to  primary 
grade  reading  and  dramatics,  and  should  occupy  more  of  the 
time  allowed  for  drawing.  Too  much  of  the  primary  construc- 
tion work  is  imitative  or  else  is  done  entirely  from  dictation. 
In  the  kindergarten  initiative  is  encouraged  and  the  imagina- 
tion given  scope.  Seeing  only  the  printed  course  of  study  in 
art  and  handwork  one  would  infer  that  all  this  comes  to  an 
abrupt  end  in  the  first  grade.  The  art  supervisor  in  these 
grades  should  be  in  closer  touch  with  the  primary  supervisor, 
so  as  to  utilize  stories  and  games  for  illustrative  purposes.  The 
outlines  in  construction  for  grades  one  to  four,  furnished  in 
typewritten  form- by  the  supervisor ,  presumably  for  inclusion 


10±  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

in  a  revision  o'f  the  present  printed  course,  meet  this  require- 
ment. They  are  sensible,  well  arranged,  and  adapted  to  sup- 
plement and  illustrate  school  activities. 

Modeling".  Nearly  all  branches  of  modeling  seem  to  be 
emphasized  in  each  grade.  We  suggest  that  it  would  be  better 
to  emphasize  low  relief  in  certain  grades,  high  relief  in  certain 
grades,  modeling  in  the  round  in  certain  grades,  and  pottery 
in  certain  grades. 

Modeling  in  clay  is  hardly  adapted  for  execution  in  the 
ordinary  class  room  with  its  sloping  desks.  Casting  in  plaster 
of  Paris  should  always  'be  done  in  a  separate  room  adapted  to 
the  purpose.  The  manual  training  shops  in  most  schools  are 
without  classes  some  portion  of  each  week.  They  might  well 
be  utilized  for  clay  and  plaster  work.  It  would  save  much 
labor  and  conserve  the  time  of  teachers  and  pupils  if  the 
material  for  this  work  were  kept  and  used  in  one  place,  instead 
of  having  to  be  distributed  in  small  lots  to  the  different  rooms 
of  a  building.  Some  of  the  manual  training  rooms  are  large 
enough  to  afford  space  for  modeling,  even  while  other  work 
is  in  progress. 

Other  constructional  activities.  The  work  of  book  binding 
in  the  fifth  grade  is  not  made  to  serve  a  real  end.  Only  the 
boys  of1  a  class  now  take  this  work,  and  since  the  portfolios 
Jhat  are  made  would  serve  but  half  the  class,  they  are  not 
used.  These  projects  should  serve  the  admirable  purpose  of 
giving  concrete  application  to  the  otherwise  abstract  principle 
of  design,  by  providing  objects  of  real  use  which  lend  them- 
selves to  decoration. 

There  appears  to  be  no  connection  between  sewing  and  art. 
The  principle  of  correlation,  so  well  worked  out  in  the  academic 
part  of  the  course  of  study,  should  find  its  most  effective  appli- 
cation in  art  and  handwork  both  for  girls  and  boys.  The  sub- 
ject of  design  is  not  developed  in  a  progressive  manner  from 
grade  to  grade,  as  it  might  easily  be  if  manual  training,  sewing, 
and  art  were  included  in  the  scheme  of  correlation. 


THE  COURSES  OF  STUDY.  105 

11.    Manual  Training. 

A  poor  course  of  study.  The  shop  work  is  limited  to  wood- 
working processes  of  a  single  type — cabinet  making — and  the 
related  drawing  is  extremely  limited  in  scope.  The  course 
lacks  justification  from  the  standpoint  of  application  in  local 
industries,  as  well  as  on  the  score  of  educational  value.  The 
content  of  the  course  is  extremely  limited,  considering  the  time 
given  to  the  subject,  and  some  of  the  work,  for  example  letter- 
ing, comes  far  too  early  in  the  course.  Working  drawings  are 
not,  as  a  rule,  taught  with  any  degree  of  profit  to  grades  below 
the  eighth,  yet  a  greater  emphasis  is  placed  on  working  draw- 
ings in  the  earlier  part  of  this  course  than  in  the  later  part: 
the  fifth  grade  having  29  1-3  hours,  the  sixth  21  1-3  hours  and 
the  seventh  17  1-3  hours  given  to  such  work. 

Time  spent  on  working  drawings  below  the  eighth  grade 
is  time  practically  wasted.  The  child  does  not  get  his  working 
facts  from  the  drawing,  but  depends  upon  the  teacher.  To 
understand  the  conventional  procedure  usual  in  making  clear 
working  drawings,  greater  maturity  is  required  than  the  fifth, 
sixth,  or  seventh-grade  pupil  has  attained.  The  place  for 
drawings  for  children  of  these  ages  is  in  connection  with  de- 
sign, which  this  course  wholly  lacks.  The  uniformity  in  the 
wTork  throughout  the  city,  observed  by  the  members  of  the 
survey,  indicates  that  there  is  no  attempt  at  adjustment  to 
individuals  or  groups. 

Work  needs  enlarging.  In  the  selection  of  projects  one 
interest  only  seems  to  have  been  in  mind,  that  of  supplying 
needs  for  the  home,  and  the  same  objects  are  made  by  all  boys 
till  the  eighth  grade  is  reached,  when  some  little  choice  is 
allowed.  It  can  hardly  be  assumed  that  all  homes  have  the 
same  needs.  Additional  interests  should  be  drawn  upon,  such 
as  sports,  industrial  studies,  and  trade  activities.  Printing, 
the  study  of  home  carpentry,  the  making  of  play-ground  appa- 
ratus and  simple  laboratory  equipment,  readily  suggest  them- 
selves. As  the  course  stands,  little  initiative  is  possible  for 


106  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

teacher  or  pupil.  The  work  as  planned  is  stereotyped,  and 
seems  to  have  only  a  disciplinary  aim.  One  material,  wood,  is 
involved  throughout  the  entire  course,  and  the  kinds  of  this 
are  limited.  The  most  common  uses  of  wood  seem  to  be  ig- 
nored. The  shop  processes  connected  with  "squaring  off" 
are  continually  emphasized,  for  four  years.  The  printed  steps 
are  not  correct  as  to  teaching  practice  or  shop  practice.  It 
seems  unfortunate  that  this  particular  process  should  be  given 
such  prominence. 

Suggestions  for  improvement.  The  fifth  and  sixth  grades 
would  get  more  out  of  construction  work  if  they  should  make 
a  study  of  machines  used  in  the  mining  industry  on  a  working- 
model  basis,  introducing  thin  sheet  metal,  wire  cloth,  sott 
metals,  and  cement,  in  addition  to  wood.  The  making  of  foun- 
dry flasks  and  tools,  and  the  casting  of  objects  in  soft  metai 
would  be  appropriate  projects.  The  study  of  transportation, 
involving  the  making  of  models  of  railroad  tracks,  switches, 
hoists,  etc.,  would  furnish  occasions  for  the  exercise  of  in- 
genuity. Bridge  construction  is  also  appropriate  work.  It 
is  clearly  suggested  by  the  trestle  over  Salt  Lake. 

In  grades  seven  and  eight  more  advanced  work  in  metal  as 
well  as  in  wood  is  appropriate.  It  should  be  in  part  applied 
art,  as  hammered  copper  or  brass;  and,  in  part,  along  the  line 
of  applications  of  mechanics. 

The  supervisor  of  manual  training  and  the  supervisor  of 
art  should  co-operate  in  making  out  the  course  of  study  in 
these  two  phases  of  school  work.  These  courses  should  be 
closely  related.  The  art  department  should  co-operate  in 
working  out  designs  in  manual  training.  It  needs  this  motive 
to  keep  the  principle  of  design  from  becoming  abstract,  and 
in  his  manual  work  the  pupil  needs  to  have  his  attention  di- 
rected toward  attractiveness  of  form  and  appropriate  decora- 
tion. Manual  training  as  now  conducted  in  Salt  Lake  City 
causes  boys  to  resort  to  furniture  catalogues  for  designs  instead 
of  working  out  their  own  ideas  of  form.  They  have  no  con- 
fidence in  their  ability  to  work  out  appropriate  designs.  Their 


THE  COURSES  OF  STUDY.  107 


training  tends  to  make  them  mere  copyists.      It  is  highly 
portant  that  the  emphasis  placed  upon  design  in  the  course  in 
art  should  have  an  outlet  in  the  manual  training  activities. 

There  is  little  to  commend  in  the  scheme  of  manual  train- 
ing now  in  vogue  in  the  Salt  Lake  City  schools.  It  should  be 
radically  reorganized. 

12.    Domestic  Arts  and  Science. 

A  commendable  feature  of  the  work  seem  in  this  subject 
was  the  effort  to  adapt  the  instruction  to  the  home  needs  of 
the  children  attending  the  different  schools.  The  same  course 
of  study  was  not  followed  in  all  of  the  schools,  nor  were  the 
grades  in  which  the  instruction  was  given  the  same.  The 
teachers  of  the  subject  seemed  to  be  making  an  earnest  effort 
to  adapt  the  work  to  the  needs  of  the  children.  This  is  a 
desirable  feature,  and  should  be  continued.  It  was  the  feeling 
of  the  survey  staff  that  much  more  could  be  done  in  this  line 
than  has  so  far  been  done. 

There  are  too  few  properly  equipped  centers  for  this  work 
in  the  schools  of  the  city,  and  enough  is  not  made  of  it,  and  in 
one  of  the  high  schools  no  opportunity  is  provided  for  girls 
who  wish  to  continue  this  important  study. 

13.    Physical  Training. 

This  is  considered  at  some  length  as  a  part  of  the  health 
work  of  the  schools,  and  the  reader  is  referred  to  Chapter  XII 
for  a  detailed  consideration  of  the  work  in  this  subject  of 
instruction. 


1C8  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

CHAPTER  VII. 


THE   INSTRUCTION  AND   SUPERVISION   AS   SEEN 
DESIRABLE  EXTENSIONS. 

(Van  Sickle) 


I.     THE   INSTRUCTION   AND    SUPERVISION   AS   SEEN. 

The  Quality  of  Instruction.  Enough  has  already  been 
said  to  indicate  that  the  survey  was  favorably  impressed  by 
the  teaching  observed  in  the  class  rooms  of  the  city.  We 
found  the  work  in  general  on  a  fairly  high  plane.  The  neces- 
sity of  utilizing  each  year  the  services  of  so  many  young 
teachers  just  out  of  the  normal  school  makes  for  a  lower 
average  level  of  instruction  than  is  best  for  the  system,  but 
this  tendency,  so  far  as  the  common  branches  are  concerned, 
is  offset  in  large  measure  by  the  employment  of  expert  super- 
visors in  grammar  and  primary  grades  who  supplement  the 
weaknesses  of  the  young  teachers  and,  in  time,  bring  them 
out  as  worthy  members  of  the  teaching  force.  The  normal 
school  sends  them  into  the  service  with  the  right  attitude 
toward  the  work,  and  this  is  one  absolutely  indispensable 
factor  in  their  training.  Thus  they  are  prepared  to  accept, 
in  the  'best  possible  spirit,  the  training  in  service  which  con- 
tinues through  the  early  years  of  their  employment.  Without 
expert  guidance  from  grade  supervisors  Salt  Lake  City's 
method  of  recruiting  its  teaching  force  would  be  fatal  to 
progress ;  but  the  weaknesses  inherent  in  the  plan  of  recruiting 
the  force  exclusively  from  the  home  product  and  at  low  sal- 
aries, is  offset  in  such  measure  'by  the  systematic  after-train- 
ing which  the  system  affords  that  better  results  are  secured 
than  might  reasonably  be  expected.  Much  of  the  work  done 
by  the  more  experienced  teachers  is  superior  in  quality. 
Some  mediocre  work  was  seen,  and  some  that  would  be  called 
poor,  but  the  greater  part  of  the  teaching  must  in  fairness 
be  classed  as  good. 


INSTRUCTION  AND  SUPERVISION  SEEN.  109 

One  important  aid  which  the  teachers  have  is  the  free 
text  book  system  maintained  by  the  city,  and  the  freedom 
which  the  city  enjoys  in  the  selection  of  the  books  to  be  used. 
Fortunately,  the  State  of  Utah  has  had  the  good  sense  to  ex- 
empt the  city  from  following  the  uniform  series  of  text  books 
adopted  for  its  district  schools,  and  the  city  has  made  ex- 
cellent use  of  the  exemption.  The  books  supplied  are  both 
varied  in  character  and  excellent  in  quality. 

Classwork  Observed.  It  was  not  possible  in  the  time 
available  to  observe  a  class  exercise  in  every  school  room  of 
the  city,  but  enough  work  wras  seen  to  afford  a  safe  basis 
for  opinion.  Fully  300  class  exercises  were  observed  by  the 
members  of  the  survey, — some  in  full,  and  all  for  a  sufficient 
length  of  time  to  catch  the  method  and  spirit  of  the  work. 

The  attainments  of  the  children  in  reading,  spelling, 
writing,  arithmetic,  and  composition,  as  measured  by  the 
standard  tests  employed  are  'seen,  by  reference  to  the  tables 
and  charts  in  Chapter  VIII,  to  compare  favorably  with  those 
of  children  of  like  grades  in  other  cities  where  the  same 
standards  have  been  applied.  In  visiting  classes,  many  of 
those  in  which  the  tests  had  'been  given  received  particular 
attention,  because  it  seemed  desirable  to  know  whether  the 
results  of  the  tests  were  such  as  might  have  been  anticipated 
by  a  competent  observer.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  those 
members  of  the  survey  who  applied  the  observation  test  to 
these  classes,  till  recently  the  only  test  available,  were  not 
surprised  to  learn,  after  the  tabulations  had  been  completed, 
that  the  nineteen  schools  in  which  the  standard  tests  were 
used  had  made  a  good  showing. 

An  Observed  Characteristic.  One  marked  characteristic 
of  the  Salt  Lake  City  school  system  that  impressed  the  mem- 
bers of  the  survey  in  their  visits  to  class  rooms  was  the 
cheerful,  optimistic  tone  of  the  teachers.  No  burden  seemed 
too  great,  no  work  so  hard  as  to  cause  complaint.  The  fine 
professional  attitude  of  the  teaching  force  deserves  the  high- 
est commendation.  As  might  be  expected  this  attitude  is  re- 


110  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

fleeted  in  the  attitude  of  the  children  toward  the  school.  Re- 
pression was  nowhere  in  evidence,  nor  was  any  needed.  The 
children  were  free  and  natural  in  their  movements,  yet  there 
was  no  disorder.  Not  a  single  instance  of  cross  word  or 
stubborn  manner  was  noticed  by  any  member  of  the  survey 
during  the  entire  three  weeks  of  their  stay  in  the  city.  Doubt- 
less cases  of  discipline  do  arise.  However,  the  records  show 
that  offenses  calling  for  severity  are  of  rare  occurrence. 

Principals  and  Their  Work.  A  principal  is  both  an  ad- 
ministrator and  a  supervisor.  In  his  role  as  administrator  he 
acts  as  the  responsible  head  of  his  school  in  all  matters  of 
organization  and  management.  He  represents  the  school  de- 
partment in  his  community,  and  in  proportion  as  he  has  en- 
ergy and  discretion  and  an  aptitude  for  leadership  he  causes 
his  school  and  its  work  to  be  known  and  appreciated  and  loy- 
ally supported  by  the  people  of  his  community.  In  the  'Salt 
Lake  City  school  system  the  principal's  position  is  one  of 
dignity  and  authority.  He  is  the  head  of  his  school  in  super- 
vision, as  well  as  in  administration.  All  directions  to  teach- 
ers given  by  the  superintendent  or  by  supervisors  acting  for 
him  are  given  either  through  the  principal  or  with  his  'full 
understanding.  His  range  of  observation  is  more  limited  than 
theirs,  since  his  work  is  confined  to  a  single  school.  He  needs 
to  avail  himself  of  the  wider  view  of  the  supervisors  who  see 
the  entire  field,  in  order  to  make  the  work  of  his  school  har- 
monize in  essentials  with  the  general  policy  of  the  admini- 
stration. 

There  is  a  wide  range  for  variation  within  this  field,  and 
each  principal  is  expected  to  make  definite  contributions 
toward  the  improvement  of  the  service.  He  knows  that  if 
he  wishes  to  try  some  plan  which  he  thinks  will  work  better 
than  the  customary  one  he  will  have  full  liberty  to  make 
trial  of  it,  providing  after  explanation  it  does  not  appear  to 
the  superintendent  to  be  contrary  to  the  general  policy  of  the 
schools.  Not  only  does  the  principal  have  liberty  to  try  new 
things ;  he  is  definitely  encouraged  to  seek  paths  leading  away 


INSTRUCTION  AND  SUPERVISION  SEEN.  Ill 

from  the    beaten    track    of    routine  for  in  this  direction  lies~ 
growth. 

The  principals'  salary-schedule  puts  a  premium  upon  this 
very  thing  by  basing  increase  above  a  certain  minimum  upon 
university  work.  In  consequence  many  of  the  principals  have 
taken  a  college  degree,  some  at  the  agricultural  college  and 
some  at  the  state  university.  They  seem  to  the  survey  staff 
to  be  well  poised,  self-respecting,  and  capable.  It  was  the 
general  feeling  'among  the  members  that  they  had  seldom 
if  ever  seen  greater  professional  zeal  on  the  part  of  prin- 
cipals in  devising  ways  to  improve  their  schools,  both  in 
matters  of  detail  and  in  those  larger  phases  of  a  school's  life 
which  affect  life  of  the  community  and  influence  its  ideals. 

The  supervision  of  work  in  the  common  branches.  Under 
the  present  system  of  recruiting  the  teaching  force,  the  good 
results  realized  in  the  common  branches  in  the  'Salt  Lake  City 
schools  could  not  be  reailzed  if  the  supervision  were  not  sys- 
tematic and  intelligent,  for  whatever  strength  the  work  man- 
ifests must  in  large  part  be  due  to  the  wise  guidance  which 
makes  seasoned  veterans  out  of  raw  recruits. 

The  efficiency  of  grade  supervision  may  be  shown  in  sev- 
eral ways, — first,  of  course  in  results;  second  in  helpful  pro- 
fessional relations  which  the  supervisors  establish  in  their 
contact  with  the  teachers  in  the  school  rooms  of  the  city; 
and,  third,  by  the  suggestions  and  directions  they  give  to 
the  teachers  by  means  of  detailed  outlines,  and  orally  in  the 
teachers'  meetings. 

As  shown  by  standard  tests  and  verified  by  observation 
of  regular  class  work,  the  results  are  good.  In  judging 
whether  helpful  relations  had  been  established,  members  of 
the  survey  accompanied  the  grade  supervisors  in  certain  of 
their  visits  for  the  purpose  of  actually  seeing  how  they  did 
the  part  of  their  work  which  brings  them  into  contact  with 
teachers  and  children  in  the  school  rooms.  Two  half  days 
were  spent  in  this  way  with  the  supervisor  of  grammar  grades, 
and  one  with  the  supervisor  of  primary  grades.  Both  super- 


112  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

visors  appear  to  be  well  equipped  in  personality,  education, 
and  professional  skill,  and  it  is  the  opinion  of  the  survey 
that  they  have  the  right  point  of  view  of  their  function  in  the 
system.  This  is  that  they  are  in  the  service  for  the  purpose 
not  simply  of  inspecting-  the  work  of  others,  though,  of  course, 
this  is  a  part  of  their  duty,  but  for  the  larger  purpose  of 
helping  the  teachers  to  teach  well.  To  this  end  they  make 
plain  the  meaning  of  the  necessarily  limited  statements  in 
the  course  of  study,  and  are  always  ready  to  illustrate  the 
proper  method  of  procedure  by  actual  teaching.  This  is 
often  the  surest  way  of  getting  any  procedure  understood. 
Any  one  wrho  has  had  experience  in  sending  out  written  in- 
structions cannot  fail  to  realize  the  utter  impossibility  of  so 
wording  a  statement,  involving  many  particulars,  that  all 
to  whom  it  is  addressed  will  interpret  it  in  the  same  way.  Es- 
pecially is  it  true  that  comparatively  inexperienced  teachers, 
of  whom  there  are  so  many  in  the  Salt  Lake  City  schools, 
need  the  illustration  which  the  supervisor  stands  ready  to  give. 

Promotion  of  pupils.  The  system  in  use  for  promotion 
to  the  high  schools,  depending  in  part,  as  it  does,  upon  the 
records  made  by  children  in  formal  examination,  makes  test- 
ing an  exceedingly  important  part  of  the  supervisors'  duty. 
In  any  promotion  system  involving  set  examinations  the 
danger  is  that  the  examination  will  loom  large  in  the  minds 
of  children  and  teachers,  and  that  chief  attention  will  be 
centered  upon  the  more  formal  portions  of  the  work.  Even 
though  examination  results  count  only  one-third,  the  members 
of  the  survey  are  not  in  favor  of  this  phase  of  Salt  Lake 
City's  promotion  scheme.  They  believe  in  examinations,  both 
oral  and  written,  as  teaching  exercises,  but  not  as  tests  of  fit- 
ness for  promotion.  The  inevitable  tendency  of  such  exami- 
nations is  to  narrow  instruction. 

Nevertheless,  since  examination  for  promotion  is  a  fea- 
ture of  the  system,  it  is  important  to  note  whether  the  ex- 
aminations which  are  set  tend  toward  formality  and  a  nar- 
row interpretation  of  the  course  of  study,  or  whether,  as 


INSTRUCTION  AND  SUPERVISION  SEEN.  113 

far  as  may  be,  they  have  the  opposite  tendency.  The  samples 
in  language  and  arithmetic  which  follow  show  the  character 
of  the  examinations  which  the  grade  supervisors  set.  It  will 
readily  be  admitted  that  they  are  excellent  samples  of  their 
kind.  They  would  be  extremely  useful  as  teaching  exercises. 
If  examinations  are  to  be  employed  as  elements  in  the  pro- 
motion of  pupils  from  grade  to  grade,  those  of  the  type 
used  in  the  Salt  Lake  City  schools  are  as  free  from  objection  as 
any  that  could  be  devised. 

Types  of  examination  tests  used.  To  show  the  type  of 
examinations  given  by  the  supervisors,  and  the  mental  qual- 
ities they  are  designed  to  test,  we  reproduce  a  few  typical 
examination  papers  from  the  collection  supplied  us  while  at 
work  in  Salt  Lake  City. 

I.     LANGUAGE.     REPRODUCTION. 
A  CLASS,  THIRD  GRADE. 

Thursday,  P.  M.,  January  22nd,  after  test  paper  and  all  nec- 
essary material  have  been  furnished  the  pupils,  read  or  tell,  slowly, 
very  deliberately, — in  order  that  the  children  may  be  able  to  get 
the  mental  pictures, — ONCE  only,  the  story  which  follows. 

Suggest  three  or  four  titles  and  allow  each  child  to  select  his 
own. 

One  'very  hot  day  a  little  boy  was  lying  on  his  stomach  under 
a  big  tree,  reading  a  story. 

"Little  boy,"  said  his  mother,  "will  you  please  go  into  the 
garden  and  bring  me  a  head  of  lettuce?" 

"O,  I — can't!"  said  the  little  boy,  "I  am  too  hot!" 

The  little  boy's  father  happened  to  be  close  by,  weeding  the 
flower  bed,  and  when  he  heard  this  he  lifted  the  little  boy  gently 
by  the  waistband,  and  dipped  him  into  the  great  tub  of  cold  water 
that  stood  ready  for  watering  the  plants. 

"There,  my  son,  now  you  are  cool  enough  to  go  and  get  the  let- 
tuce for  your  mother,  and  the  next  time  she  asks  you  to  do  some- 
thing for  her  you  may  not  feel  so  hot." 


Note  how  readily  this  would  lend  itself  to  reproduction 
with  the  picture  idea  in  the  child's  mind. 


314  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

II.  GEOGRAPHY. 
B  CLASS,  THIRD  GRADE. 

1.  Where  do  the  dairy  farmers  of  Salt  Lake  Valley  have  their 
hay  farms? 

2.  Why   must   a   dairy   farm  be   near   a   community   center   or 
near  a  railroad  station? 

3.  Why  must  milk  be  kept  very,  very  clean? 

4.  When  the  milker  begins  his  work  what  does  he  do?    Why? 

5.  Just  as   soon  as   he   finishes   milking  a  cow  what  does   he 
do?     Why? 

6.  Why  does  each  cow  have  a  report  card?     Is  her  name  on 
the  card? 

7.  How   do   they   get   the   milk   from   the   dairy   farms   to   the 
cities? 

8.  Why  is  all  milk  bottled  now? 

9.  Name  the  Utah  counties  that  rank  high  in  dairy  products. 
10.    What  dairy  product  is  Utah  turning  out  in  larger  and  larger 

quantities  each  year? 

III.     GRAMMAR. 

FINAL  EXAMINATION— EIGHTH  B  'CLASS. 
GROUP  I. 

1.  Illustrate,    (a)    a   phrase   as   subject   of  the   sentence,    (b)    a 

clause  as  object  of  a  preposition,  (c)  a  co-ordinate  clause, 
(d)  a  phrase  modifying  a  noun  used  as  subjective  com- 
plement. : 

2.  Choose  the  proper  word  and   fill   in  the   blanks   Of  the   fol- 

lowing sentences,  also  give  reasons  for  your  choice: 

(a)  Not  one  of  the  boys  (was,  were) there. 

(b)  The  book   (lay,  laid) on  the  table  yesterday. 

(c)  Deal  (gentle,  gently) with  them. 

(d)  For  you  and  (me,  I)   there  are  many  oppor- 
tunities. 

(e)  (Has,  have) either  of  you  girls  an  extra  pen- 
cil? 

3.  Diagram  the  following  sentences: 

At   the   back   of   Mount   Tipanogas,   not   fifty   miles   away,    is    a 
glacier  exhibiting  all  the  characteristics  of  ice  streams. 

4.  Use  each  of  the  following  words  first  as  a  noun,  then  as  an 
adjective,  then  as  a  verb: — blind,  sound,  spring. 

5.  Classify  (a)   words,    (b)   sentences,   (c)   phrases,  according  to 
use. 


INSTRUCTION  AND  SUPERVISION  SEEN.  115 

GROUP  II. 

6.  Write  the  plural  form  of  the  following  words:     Tooth,  Mary, 
Miss   Clark,   German,  baby,   journey,   chief,  wolf,   father-in-law,  hero. 

7.  Give   the   principal   parts    of   the   following   verbs:      Go,    sit, 
lie,  dig,  set,  see,  do,  eat,  come,  lay. 

8.  Account  for  the  case  form  of  the  underlined  pronouns  in  the 
following  sentences: 

(a)  WE  girls  are  going  on  an  excursion. 

(b)  Did  you  see  Mary  and  ME  at  the  theater? 

(c)  Neither   speaker   had   prepared   HIS   speech* 

(d)  I  am  in  a  higher  class  than  SHE. 

(e)  The  money  belongs  to  US  four  boys. 

9.  White    a   sentence    containing   two    subordinate    clauses,    one 
performing  the  office  of  an  adjective,  and  the  other  the  office  of  an 
adverb. 

10.     Explain  and  illustrate  the  difference  in  meaning  between  the 
following  words: 

At  and  in,  between  and  among,  beside  and  besides,  by  and 
with,  in  and  into. 

Note  that  children  compose  in  answering  these  questions. 
They  are  not  analyzing  the  sentences  of  others. 

IV.    ARITHMETIC. 
EIGHTH  A  AND  B  CLASSES. 
GROUP  I. 

1.  Solve:     54  3-4  +  9  17-28  +  7-13    +82-7  +  13  2-3. 

2.  Divide  49   5-7  by  21   3-5. 

3.  Multiply  .045  by  40.4  and  divide  the  product  by  6.45. 

4.  Simplify:      3-4  of  20-27 


5-6  of  1  2-3 

5.     Multiply  1,786,905  2-3  by  78  3-4. 

GROUP  II. 

1.  How  many  square  feet  in  the  walls,  floor,  and  ceiling  of  a 
room  16  feet  six  inches  long,  by  12  feet  4  inches  wide,  by  9  feet  6 
inches  high? 

2.  A   farmer   bought   80   sheep   for   $500.     He   sold   45    per   cent 
of  them  at     $8.00  apiece,  and  the  remainder  at  $7.50  apiece.     Find 
his  per  cent  of  gain. 


116  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

3.  At  3^  per  cent  commission,  what  were  the  earnings  in  one 
week  of  an  agent  who  sold  property  as  follows:     $6,875,  $5,400,  $11,- 
400,  and  $8,725? 

4.  A  steam  boat  makes  a  trip  of  148.75  miles  in  9.4  hours.    Find 
the  speed  per  hour.     (Give  the  answer  to  the  nearest  hundredths). 

5.  $75.50  was  paid  for  oats  at  45  cents  a  bushel.    Find  the  total 
weight,  reckoning  32  pounds  to  a  bushel. 


Note  the  separate  grouping  of  problems  by  means  of  which 
a  comparison  may  be  made  between  a  pupil's  ability  in  funda- 
mentals and  in  reasoning. 

The  quality  of  the  grade  supervision.  Sets  of  circulars 
or  'bulletins  issued  by  the  grade  supervisors,  as  interpretations 
of  the  course  of  study,  have  been  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the 
members  of  the  survey. 

The  outlines  in  third-grade  geography,  issued  in  bulletin 
form  'by  the  primary  supervisor,  have  already  been  commented 
on  as  models  of  their  kind.  A  grammar-grade  bulletin  on 
arithmetic  has  been  quoted  in  connection  with  the  discussion 
o"f  that  subject.  In  u  bulletin  on  hygiene,  issued  by  the  gram- 
mar-grade supervisor,  an  excellent  way  is  pointed  out  to  se- 
cure the  observance  'by  the  pupils  of  hygienic  rules:  "Habit 
(formation  should  constitute  a  chief  part  of  the  educational 
training  in  hygiene.  The  pupils  will  be  rated  on  the  quality 
of  their  class  work  and  their  daily  physical  habits. ' '  And  in 
another  bulletin  the  following  sound  characterization  of  the 
use  of  grammar  is  given  for  the  benefit  of  principals  and 
teachers  of  seventh  and  eighth  grades: 

The  teaching  of  grammar  must  be  justified  by  the  educational 
results  that  are  immediate  rather  than  those  remote.  These  re- 
sults should  be  (a)  clearer  thinking,  (b)  increased  ability  to  judge 
the  quality  of  langueage,  (c)  increased  power  to  interpret  lang- 
uage. 

It  is  better  to  select  a  few  topics  in  grammar  and  to  teach  them 
well  than  endeavor  to  teach  too  many  topics.  Whenever  the  facts 
and  principles  being  studied  have  no  concrete  meaning  to  the  child 
they  are  not  serving  the  educational  purpose  intended.  Verbal  mem- 


DESIRABLE  EXTENSIONS.  117 

ory  has  little  place  in  the  teaching  of  this  subject.  Classifications 
and  definitions  should  follow  concrete  "knowledge  of  many  individual 
words  or  expressions  and  not  precede  this  knowledge.  In  other 
words,  they  should  grow  out  of  the  child's  fund  of  information  and 
his  powers  of  comparison. 

Good  points  about  the  bulletins  are : 

(1)  Flexibility — the   supervisor  realizes   that   conditions 
determine  the  remedies  to  be  applied. 

(2)  Definiteness  of  directions. 

(3)  The  ultimate   end  is  never  lost  sight  of.     The  va- 
rious means  suggested  are  always  practical.     They  reflect  su- 
pervisors who  have  studied  the  results  of  the  teachers'  work 
and  who  possess  readiness  and  resourcefulness  in  suggesting 
remedies  for  difficulties. 

(4)  The    insistence    upon    thoroughness,     upon     student 
power,  not  alone  a  mastery  of  facts,  as  an  ultimate  test  of 
teaching  is  constantly  emphasized. 

(5)  The  human   element  in  the   directions  should   tend 
to  make  the  teachers  sympathetic  and  stimulating. 

(6)  The  relation  of  subject  to  subject  is  well  brought 
out  indicating  supervisors  who  see  all  of  the  subjects  as  parts 
of  a  plan  to  develop  a  single  consistent  purpose. 

II.     DESIRABLE  EXTENSIONS. 

The  Junior  High  School.  The  plan  now  well  under  way 
in  Salt  Lake  City,  by  which  grades  seven,  eight,  and  nine 
are  organized  departmentally  as  the  Junior  high  school,  is 
in  line  with  progressive  practice  elsewhere.  Already  sixty- 
eight  cities  have  such  organizations,  and  many  more  are 
contemplating  this  feature.  These  organizations  differ  as  to 
the  grades  included,  whether  two  or  three;  as  to  housing, 
whether  in  a  separate  building,  or  with  lower  grades,  or  high 
school  proper;  and  again  as  to  the  subjects  included  in  the 
course  of  study.  Some  common  characteristics  appear.  After 
the  sixth  grade,  pupils  are  allowed  some  choice  among  stud- 


118  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

ies,  they  anticipate  some  of  the  work  of  the  high  school  proper, 
and  they  are  taught  on  the  departmental  plan. 

The  plan  as  yet  imperfectly  developed.  In  Salt  Lake 
City  the  organization  calls  ultimately  for  three  grades,  the 
seventh,  the  eighth  and,  as  pupils  of  the  two  grades  below 
accomplish  work  which  calls  for  high  school  credits,  the  ninth. 
A  good  beginning  has  been  made,  and  the  plan  merits  full 
development.  It  seems  to  the  survey,  however,  that  instead 
of  scattering  the  units  of  the  organization  throughout  the  city 
it  -would  be  far  better,  both  financially  and  educationally,  to 
bring  the  pupils  of  Junior  high  school  grades  together  in 
larger  numbers.  Since  the  schools  throughout  the  city  are 
now  so  crowded  that  rooms  not  intended  for  school  use  are 
being  utilized  as  class  rooms,  it  is  evident  that  new  buildings 
must  -be  erected  to  relieve  the  congestion.  The  needed  relief 
should  be  provided  by  erecting  four  or  five  new  buildings  ex- 
pressly for  the  Junior  high  school  work,  leaving  existing  build- 
ings for  the  use  of  grades  one  to  six.  This  would  make  better 
grading  possible  and  would  provide  larger  classes,  thus  reduc- 
ing the  per  capita  cost  of  instruction.  It  would  also  remove 
two  grades,  the  seventh  and  eighth,  from  all  existing  build- 
ings, in  itself  a  gain  of  no  small  importance. 

The  work  cannot  be  properly  developed  in  so  many  small 
scattered  centers.  Not  enough  differentiation  can  be  ar- 
ranged to  meet  the  varying  needs  of  the  children.  At  present 
pre-vocational  needs  of  the  children  of.  Salt  Lake  -City  are  not 
sufficiently  provided  for.  A  choice  of  German,  Latin,  or 
French  is  open  to  pupils,  and  in  one  center  the  arithmetic  of 
the  eighth  grade  has  a  commercial  trend;  but  there  is  little 
provision  for  those  non-literary  pupils  who,  though  not  de- 
fective in  intellect,  are  not  sufficiently  apt  in  dealing  with 
symbols  to  get  their  education  chiefly  from  books.  Not  only 
for  these  but  also  for  another  group  of  boys  and  girls,  normal 
in  every  respect  but  who  will  inevitably  leave  school  at  an 
early  age,  courses  should  be  offered  which  give  definite  indus- 
trial training.  The  work  in  such  courses  should  differ  from 


DESIRABLE  EXTENSIONS.  119 

that  in  the  ordinary  manual  training  classes  for  boys,  and 
classes  in  cooking  and  sewing  for  girls,  in  the  greater  variety 
of  materials  dealt  with,  in  the  increased  time  devoted  to  prac- 
tical work,  and  in  the  approach  to  the  academic  work  through 
the  industrial  projects  o'f  the  shop  and  home.  Ten  hours  per 
week  is  not  too  much  time  to  devote  to  this  work.  The  courses 
should  provide  real  vocational  experience,  with  materials  and 
processes  as  extensive  as  the  leading  occupations  followed  in 
the  city  and  state.  Through  such  experience  the  boys  and 
girls  can  form  some  notion  of  what  they  are  fitted  to  do  for  a 
livelihood. 

Types  of  courses  needed.  The  Junior  high  school  scheme, 
when  fully  developed,  should  provide  at  least  four  courses  at 
each  center.  One  strongly  academic  has  now  been  well  worked 
out.  Another  tending  toward  the  commercial  has  been  begun. 
Another  in  practical  arts  for  boys  is  needed,  and  still  another 
in  practical  arts  for  girls.  Both  of  these  should  include  agri- 
culture as  an  optional  subject.  It  should  ;be  possible  for  a 
boy  or  girl  who  has  taken  any  one  of  the  courses  to  enter  the 
Senior  high  school,  if  circumstances  are  such  as  to  make  a 
longer  period  of  schooling  possible. 

As  has  already  been  said,  this  variety  of  opportunity  can 
not  be  offered  in  scattered  centers.  Four  or  five  buildings 
with  ample  shop  and  laboratory  facilities  are  needed.  Each 
should  be  conveniently  located  to  receive  pupils  from  several 
six-grade  schools.  On  the  basis  of  the  present  enrollment, 
four  schools,  each  with  a  capacity  for  950  pupils,  would  accom- 
modate the  seventh,  eighth  and  ninth  grades  of  the  entire  city. 
For  the  present,  one  of  these  would  as  now  be  the  new  high 
school  building. 

In  the  year  1914-15  there  were  1616  pupils  enrolled  in  the 
seventh  grade,  1243  in  the  eighth  and  856  in  the  ninth.  The 
falling  off  in  attendance  in  the  eighth  grade  was  23  per  cent ; 
in  the  ninth  it  was  47  per  cent.  It  may  be  confidently  ex- 
pected that  after  the  Junior  high  school  plan  has  been  fully 
developed,  with  differentiated  courses  of  study  and  in  build- 


120  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

ings  of  suitable  plan  and  equipment,  this  heavy  mortality  at 
the  end  of  the  eighth  grade  will  be  greatly  reduced,  and  a  fifth 
school  would  be  needed.  It  ought  to  be  the  purpose  of  every 
city  to  carry  as  many  pupils  as  possible  through  a  six-year 
elementary  and  some  one  of  the  three-year  Junior  high  school 
courses.  Normally  these  would  be  completed  by  the  close  of 
the  fifteenth  year,  or  at  the  end  of1  the  compulsory  school 
period.  That  Salt  Lake  'City  fails  to  accomplish  such  a  pur- 
pose now  may  be  seen  'by  an  inspection  of  Figures  13  and  14, 
which  show  the  ages  and  grades  of  the  pupils  at  present  in  the 
schools. 

Vocational  training.  Approximately  1600  children  leave 
school  each  year  in  various  grades  after  the  sixth,  800  boys  and 
800  girls.  It  is  important  to  know  what  preparation  they  have 
had  for  the  practical  duties  that  await  them.  The  exact  loss 
by  grades,  computed  from  the  Age  Grade  Distribution  sheet,  is : 

Grade  VI       to  VII     215 

Grade  VII    to  VIII  253 

Grade  VIII  to  IX      552 

Grade  IX       to  X       312 

Grade  X        to  XI      145 

Grade  XI      to  XII     117     Total  1594 

Approximately  two-thirds  of  those  leaving  are  from  grades 
below  the  ninth,  and  eighty-four  per  cent  of  them  are  from 
grades  below  the  Senior  high  school.  Vocational  preparation 
is  seen  therefore  to  be  chiefly  a  problem  for  the  Junior  high 
school  and  the  grades  immediately  below  it. 

Vocational  training  in  any  city  must  have  reference  to  the 
opportunities  for  employment  which  the  city  affords,  for  it  is 
safe  to  assume  that  the  majority  of  the  boys  and  girls  now  in 
the  schools  will  find  their  place  in  the  life  of  the  local  com- 
munity. We  cannot  know  what  occupation  any  child  will 
follow,  but  from  census  reports  we  do  know  what  occupations 
are  open  to  choice,  not  only  in  Salt  Lake  City,  but  also  in  the 
country  as  a  whole,  and  what  proportion  of  the  population  is 
now  engaged  in  each  occupation. 


DESIRABLE  EXTENSIONS.  121 

Vocations  in  Salt  Lake  City.  The  vocational  distribution 
of  the  entire  wage-earning  population  of  Salt  Lake  City,  male 
and  female,  according  to  the  census  reports  for  1910,  was  as 
shown  in  the  following  table : 


TABLE  NO.  14. 
OCCUPATIONAL  'STATISTICS  FOR  SALT  LAKE  CITY. 

(U.  S.  Census,  1910,  Vol.  IV.) 

Total  Population  92,777.  Salt  Lake  City,  1910. 

Male  Female 

I.     Total  population  10  years  of  age  or  over 37,905  35,627 

37,730  or  40.7%.     1.  Engaged  in  all  occupations 30,279  7,451 

566  or    0.6%.  (a)  Agrig.  forestry  and  An  Husb 553  13 

i  Farmers — farm  laborers 195  5 

Gardeners,  nurserymen,  florists . . .      161  7 

Stock  raisers,  tenders 157  0 

904  or    0.9%.  (b)  Extraction  of  minerals 903  1 

11,564  or  12.5%.  (c)   Manf.  and  Mech.  industries 10,260  1,304 

Apprentices    239                31 

Blacksmiths — forgemen     273 

Brick — Stone  masons 367 

Builders — Bldg.    Contractors 586                 2 

Carpenters 1,425 

Compositors — Typesetters 240               12 

Dressmakers — Seamstresses    1             546 

Most  important          Electricians — El.  Engineers 448 

Over  200  in  each        Stationary  Engineers  304 

Laborers  in  building  trades 1,492                20 

Machinists — Tool  makers 516 

Manuf  ucturers,  Supt., — Officials ...  420                 8 

Milliners — M.   dealers    10              192 

Painters,  varnishers,  etc 494 

Plasterers 151 

Plumbers — Gas — Steam  fitters 313 

Food  Industries   106              155 

Iron — Steel  industries   290 

Tailors— Tailoresses  .  183               19 


122 


SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 


4,235  or    4.6%.  (d)  Transportation 4,038             197 

Draymen,  teamsters,  expressmen.  851 

Chauffeurs 65 

Steam  Ry.  Conductors 208 

Over  200  in  each        Street  Ry.  Conductors 145 

Brakesmen   1 61 

Locomotive  Engineers 323 

Locomotive  Firemen    191 

Motormen 131 

Laborers   667  6 

Summary: 

Male       Female 

Water   transportation    11  0 

Road — Street  transportation 1,039  0 

Railroad  work    2,183  6 

Exp.,  Post.  Tel. — Telephone 346  183 

Other  transportation  pursuits 459  8 

4,038  197 

6,454  or  1%.        (e)  Trade   5,726  728 

Bankers,  Brokers — money  lenders      290  5 

Clerks  in  stores    599  274 

Commercial  travelers 394  9 

Over  150  in  each        Deliverymen 475 

Insurance  agents — Officials   175  2 

Real  estate  dealers 370  8 

Retail   dealers    1,630  64 

Salesmen — Saleswomen 1,207  339 

Wholesale  dealers — Importers    ...      Ill  1 

1,583  or  1.7%.     (f)  Public  Service 1,569               10 

Firemen 69 

Guards,  watchmen,  bookkeepers . .  120 

Laborers   208 

Marshals,  sheriffs,  detectives 41 

A11                                  Officials — Inspectors    (C.-Co.) 85                 6 

Officials — Inspectors   (St.  U.  S.) . .  112                 1 

Policemen  73 

Soldiers,  sailors, — marines 846 

Other  pursuits 15 

3,342  or  3.6%.     (g)  Professional  Service 2,146  1,196 

Authors,   editors,   reporters 98  12 

Civil — Mining  engineers   444 

Designers,  draughtsmen,  inventors  118  15 


DESIRABLE  EXTENSIONS. 


123 


Over  100  in  each        Lawyers — Justices   273 

Musicians — Teachers   of   music . . .  174  195 

Physicians— Surgeons   188  26 

Teachers 113  614 

Nurses 9  112 

5,016  or  5.4%.     (h)    Domestic  and  Personal  Service...  2,253  2,763 

Barbers,  hairdressers — .manicures  266  75 

Bartenders 275 

Boarding — Lodging  hs.  keepers...  63  331 

Housekeepers — Stewards    15  135 

Janitors   211  59 

Launderers — L'dresses  (not  in  Is.)  7  201 

Over  100  in  each        Laundry  operatives    105  325 

Midwives — Untrained    nurses 22  249 

Porters 141 

Restaurant — Cafe  keepers 106  16 

Saloon  keepers    99  1 

Servants 417  1,227 

Waiters 268  81 

4,066  or  4.4%.     (i)  Clerical    Occupations 2,827  1,239 

Agents,  canvassers,  collectors 366  14 

Bookkeepers — Cashiers 804  315 

Clerks  (not  in  stores) 1,150  156 

Messenger — Office  boys 294  11 

Stenographers — Typewriters    213  743 


MANUFACTURING    CONDITIONS. 

1904. 
192 

2,776 
$7,544,000 
4,029,000 


Salt  Lake  City.  1909. 

No.  of  Manfg.  Establishments ....  245 

Av.  No.  of  Wage  Earners 4,287 

Value  of  products $13,351,000 

Values  added  my  manufacturing     6,736,000 


Itah.  Employing 

>f  manuf .  Estabs.  in 749 

Total  popl.  of  Utah 373,351 

Total  popl.  of  Salt  Lake  City 92,777 


Wage 

Earners 
11,785 


Salt  L 
Salt  Lake 
Per  cent  of 
establishments 


f  total 
,  1-6%. 


33%  of  establishments  of  State  of  Utah, 
mploys  36%  of  wage  earners  of  State  of  Utah, 
popl.  engaged  as  wage  earners  in  manufacturing 


124  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

Prom  decade  to  decade  there  will  doubtless  be  slight 
changes  in  the  vocational  distribution  shown  in  the  table,  but 
the  proportions  are  not  likely  to  change  materially  in  the  next 
twenty  years,  hence  boys  now  in  the  schools,  if  they  remain  in 
Salt  Lake  City,  will  be  engaged  in  the  occupations  listed  above 
about  in  the  same  proportion  that  obtained  in  1910.  If  they  go 
elsewhere  they  will  find  vocational  demands  widely  different. 
The  present  distribution  of  wage  earners  in  Salt  Lake  City,  in 
the  nine  leading  occupations,  is  given  in  Table  No.  5,  page  17. 

Vocational  education  needed.  It  would  manifestly  be  im- 
possible to  prepare  each  of  the  800  boys  who  leave  school  each 
year  specifically  for  the  particular  occupation  which  he  will 
follow  out  of  the  vast  variety  open  to  choice,  even  if  the  choice 
of  each  were  known  in  advance.  A  general  vocational  training 
intended  to  lay  a  broad  foundation  of  vocational  understanding 
may,  however,  be  given  to  all.  A  still  more  secure  foundation 
may  be  laid  for  each  of  the  half  dozen  broad  fields  of  human 
labor  represented  in  the  city,  the  work  in  each  field  being 
taken  only  by  those  who  intend  to  find  their  specialty  there. 

The  boy  should  be  permitted  to  try  himself  out  in  as  many 
vocational  fields  as  possible.  The  range  of  experimental  activ- 
ities should  be  as  wide  as  the  resources  of  the  city  will  permit. 
There  should  be  work  with  wood  of  all  varieties,  and  in  con- 
nection with  the  woodwork  experiences  in  the  use  of  finishes 
of  every  sort.  There  should  be  work  with  metal,  leather,  clay, 
and  textiles.  There  should  be  electric  work,  printing,  garden- 
ing, buying,  selling,  banking.  The  list  might  be  greatly  ex- 
tended. 

Sewing  and  garment  making  for  girls  already  receives 
attention,  but  not  enough  time  is  given  to  the  work  to  make 
it  of  high  vocational  value.  Some  specialization  should  be  open 
to  girls  who  will  not  pursue  their  education  beyond  the  Junior 
high  school.  This  is  true  also  of  domestic  science.  In  the 
good  beginning  thus  far  made  in  teaching  these  subjects  the 
schools  are  rendering  a  far-reaching  social  service.  Training 


DESIRABLE  EXTENSIONS.  125 

for  clerical  service  is  well  provided  for  in  the  present  courses 
of  study.  Vocational  training  for  girls  should  look  beyond 
the  commercial  and  clerical  work  which  will  necessarily  be  but 
temporary,  and  toward  the  wise  management  of  a  home  in  all 
its  varied  relations. 

The  Junior  high  school  organization  is  well  adapted  to 
foster  the  wide  variety  of  prevocational  or  try-out  activities 
through  which  only  can  a  boy  or  girl  be  sure  of  making  a  wise 
choice  of  vocation. 

The  Senior  high  schools.  The  Senior  high  schools,  two 
in  number,  offer  seven  courses,  Classical,  Scientific,  English, 
Normal  Preparatory,  Mechanics'  Arts,  Domestic  Science,  and 
Commercial.  In  view  of  the  importance  of  agriculture  in  the 
Salt  Lake  Valley  a  good  course  in  agriculture  should  be  added. 
With  this  addition  the  high  school  opportunities  furnished 
would  be  sufficiently  varied  to  meet  present  needs.  Provision 
for  variation  from  a  single  fixed  course,  alike  for  all,  has  been 
in  vogue  in  high  schools  throughout  the  country  for  many 
years,  whereas  in  the  upper  grades  of  elementary  schools  a 
more  conservative  policy,  amounting  to  rigid  adherence  to  a 
single  course,  has  till  quite  recently  been  the  universal  policy. 
The  Salt  Lake  City  high  schools  have  been  of  the  progressive 
class,  and  they  are  now  able,  without  at  all  disturbing  their  or- 
ganization, to  receive  pupils  'from  the  new  Junior  high  school 
courses  of  the  modern  varied  type  and  carry  them  forward 
along  the  lines  o'P  work  started  in  the  seventh  grade.  For  this 
reason  the  high  school  situation  has  not  seemed  to  call  for 
much  attention  from  the  survey. 

The  small  percentage  of  pupils  enrolled  in  the  high  schools, 
and  the  heavy  mortality  during  the  first  year,  as  shown  by  Fig- 
ures 14  and  15,  seem  to  indicate  that  the  high  schools  are  not 
making  the  educational  opportunities  they  provide  as  apparent 
to  the  young  people  of  the  community  as  they  should,  and 
perhaps  are  not  adjusting  their  work  as  closely  as  they  might 
to  the  individual  needs  of  the  pupils  who  enter  the  schools. 

Ungraded  classes.     The  Junior  high  school  does  not  re- 


126  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

ceive  pupils  until  they  have  completed  the  work  of  six  grades. 
The  statistics  of  retardation  in  the  Salt  Lake  City  schools 
disclose  the  fact,  common  in  the  experience  of  all  school  sys- 
tems, that  there  are  many  children  in  the  lower  grades  who, 
though  not  feeble  minded,  are  slow  to  grasp  the  fundamentals 
which,  in  the  main,  constitute  the  work  of  the  first  six  grades. 
They  cannot  work  to  advantage  in  regular  classes  because  they 
need  more  individual  attention  than  they  can  get  there.  Pail- 
ing  of  promotion  term  after  term  they  become  discouraged  and 
indifferent.  It  is  expensive  to  keep  them  in  the  regular  classes 
because  they  must  be  taken  over  the  same  ground  repeatedly, 
owing  to  their  inability  to  keep  the  pace  of  the  class.  Not 
only  is  it  expensive,  but  it  is  also  wasteful  of  human  life  and 
capacity.  Children  of  this  type  can  master  the  rudiments  of 
education  if  allowed  to  move  forward  slowly  but  regularly. 
They  need  to  be  organized  in  special  classes  of  moderate  size, 
and  to  move  forward  at  their  own  pace,  without  repeating. 
Such  groups  are  sometimes  called  auxiliary  classes,  sometimes 
ungraded  classes. 

A  few  such  classes  have  been  organized  in  Salt  Lake  City. 
On  a  false  theory  of  economy  some  of  them  have  recently  been 
discontinued.  Each  large  school  should  have  at  least  one  such 
class.  Unlike  some  of  those  now  conducted,  such  classes 
should  be  managed  with  no  expectation  of  meeting  grade  re- 
quirements of  the  course  of  study.  The  teacher  should  regu- 
late the  course  in  accordance  with  individual  needs,  and  there 
should  be  much  objective  work.  Practical  arts,  of  a  less  ad- 
vanced type  than  those  in  the  Junior  high  school,  should  pro- 
vide motive  for  reading,  writing,  composition,  and  arithmetic. 
Instead  of  reducing  the  number  of  ungraded  classes  the  city 
should  increase  their  number,  and  should  adjust  the  character 
of  the  work  done  in  them,  not  on  the  basis  of  the  regular 
course  of  study,  but  on  the  basis  of  adaptation  to  the  peculiar 
aptitudes  of  the  pupils.  This  subject  is  considered  more  in 
detail  in  Chapter  IX. 


THE  INSTRUCTION  MEASURED.  127 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  EFFICIENCY  OF  THE  INSTRUCTION  MEASURED. 

(Sears.) 

Purpose  of  this  section  of  the  report.  To  be  able  to  state 
in  quantitative  terms  just  what  the  efficiency  of  instruction  in 
a  given  school  or  subject  is,  is  a  recent  innovation  in  school 
practice  which  is  becoming  of  increasing  importance  as  scales 
for  this  purpose  are  perfected.  It  is  not  enough  to  get  results 
in  teaching,  but  we  must  be  able  to  define  those  results.  And 
it  should  be  emphasized  that,  until  this  can  be  done,  we  really 
know  very  little  about  the  results  obtained. 

It  is  the  purpose  here  to  report  the  results  of  a  series  of 
tests  which  were  designed  to  measure  the  present  state  of 
efficiency  of  instruction  in  the  Salt  Lake  City  schools  in  those 
subjects  which  are  intended  to  provide  the  children  with  the 
common  tools  of  knowledge,  and  which  everyone  recognizes 
as  the  basis  of  all  education. 

Extent  of  the  tests  made.  To  this  end  tests  were  given  in 
the  subjects  of  reading,  writing,  spelling,  composition,  and 
arithmetic,  to  from  9  to  22  per  cent  of  the  children  in  the 
elementary  schools  of  the  city.  For  this  purpose  19  of  the  30 
schools  were  selected,  taking  care  to  touch  every  type  of  com- 
munity from  the  standpoint  of  population,  social  and  economic 
status,  and  general  school  conditions  as  to  size  of  school, 
quality  of  building  and  instruction,  etc.  From  each  of  these 
schools  the  "B"  or  upper  classes  were  chosen  for  the  tests. 

Whatever  results  appear  are  therefore  fully  typical  of  the 
schools  as  a  whole,  probably  little  if  any  different  from  what 
they  would  have  been  had  every  child  in  the  system  been 
included  in  the  test.  Dealing  with  the  upper  classes  of  each 


128  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

grade,  and  at  the  close  of  the  school  year,  the  results  repre- 
sent practically  the  final  achievements  of  the  different  grades. 

Nature  of  tests  given.  The  tests  used  are  all  standardized 
tests,  and  while  no  adequate  explanation  of  any  one  of  them 
can  be  given  here,  it  should  be  noted  that  each  one  has  been 
specially  designed  for  its  purpose,  and  not  only  represents  the 
best  scientific  achievement  in  that  line,  but  has  proved  its 
value  in  practical  use  in  many  school  systems  in  teaching  and 
supervision. 

Results  obtained  from  these  tests  in  other  cities  are  there- 
fore serviceable,  and  fully  trustworthy  for  comparative  pur- 
poses here. 

What  such  tests  should  reveal.  The  forces  and  conditions 
determiniBg  the  results  of  teaching  these,  as  well  as  all  other 
subjects,  are  extremely  varied.  The  responsibility  oi£  the 
school  lies  in  discovering,  defining,  and  controlling  those  dif- 
ferent factors,  to  the  end  that  the  greatest  economy  in  instruc- 
tion shall  obtain.  Time  allotment,  teaching  equipment,  method, 
hygienic  and  aesthetic  conditions  of  the  room,  etc.,  are  all 
factors  of  importance  in  determining  the  efficiency  of  the  in- 
struction) which  can  be  attained,  but  it  is  clearly  recognized 
that  no  single  factor  is  so  great  as  that  of  individual  differ- 
ences in  mental  ability.  The  school  can  easily  control  the 
time,  equipment,  and  method  factors,  but  it  cannot  determine 
original  mental  endowment.  This  only  emphasizes  the  fact 
that  it  is  the  function  of  the  school  to  organize  and  operate 
in  terms  of  child  nature,  justifying  its  plan  of  supervision,  pro- 
motion, grading,  methods  o'f  instruction,  etc.,  always  in  terms 
of  the  degree  to  which  they  aid  in  the  adjustmnet  of  the 
school  to  the  individual  needs  of  children. 

Such  tests  as  are  employed  here  are  well  adapted  to  the 
problem  of  finding  out  how  fully  the  schools  are  meeting  this 
important  responsibility.  A  bad  classification  of  children  is 
a  greater  handicap  than  can  be  offset  by  the  greatest  excel- 
lence in  methods,  supervision,  or  equipment. 

How  the  tests  were  conducted.    With  the  exception  of 


THE  INSTRUCTION  MEASURED.  1£9 

writing  and  composition  the  tests  were  conducted  by  members 
of  the  survey  staff,  all  of  whom  were  engaged  at  this  work 
for  from  three  to  five  full  days.  The  tests  were  given  under 
as  nearly  normal  schoolroom  conditions  as  was  possible.  The 
papers  were  scored  by  teachers  and  principals  under  the  care- 
ful instruction  of  a  member  of  the  staff,  no  teacher  scoring  her 
own  papers  where  more  than  mere  counting  or  checking  was 
involved.  The  results  of  the  scoring  and  recording  were  gone 
over  with  sufficient  care  to  guarantee  that  no  unusual  errors 
crept  into  the  final  results.  A  few  papers,  and  papers  for  a 
very  few  classes,  had  to  be  discarded  because  instructions  were 
not  carefully  followed.  It  is  believed  that  the  results  as  shown 
below  are  fully  trustworthy  as  evidence  of  the  efficiency  of 
instruction  in  these  subjects  as  they  are  being  handled  at  the 
present  time. 

I.     THE  TEST  IN  SPELLINGS'. 

Status  of  spelling  in  the  city's  curriculum.  The  subject 
of  spelling  is  begun  in  the  second  grade,  and  continued  through 
the  eighth.  The  average  amount  of  time  given  to  the  subject 
is  approximately  100  minutes  per  week  for  all  grades  save  the 
third,  which  devotes  150  minutes  per  week  to  this  subject. 
(See  Table  No.  12.)  The  general  suggestions  and  plans  out- 
lined in  the  printed  course  of  study  for  spelling  are  excellent. 
The  work  is  carefully  correlated  with  other  work  in  English, 
and  the  spelling  text  is  supplemented  by  lists  of  words  made 
up  by  the  supervisors  and  teachers.  It  should  be  said  at  the 
outset  that  the  amount  of  time  devoted  to  this  subject  is  at 
least  25  per  cent  too  high,  50  per  cent  in  case  of  grade  three, 
and  that  a  'fair  interpretation  of  the  results  of  this  test  must 
bear  this  fact  in  mind. 

The  test  and  how  it  was  conducted.  The  test,  which  was 
given  to  the  "BM  class  in  each  of  the  grades,  3  to  8  inclusive, 
in  nineteen  schools,  was  that  devised  by  Dr.  Leonard  P.  Ayers, 
which  he  used  in  the  Springfield  survey,*  and  which  he  has 


130 


SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 


later  embodied  in  a  complete  spelling  scale.**, 
composed  of  the  following  sixty  words : 


The  test  is 


GRADE  3. 

GRADE  4. 

GRADE  5. 

1.  fill 

1.  forty 

1.  several 

2.  point 

2.  rate 

2.  leaving 

3.  state 

.  -  • 

3.  children                  3.  publish 

4.  ready 

4.  prison 

4.  o'clock 

5.  almost 

5.  title 

5.  running 

6.  high 

6  getting 

6.  known 

7.  event 

7.  need 

7.  secure 

8.  done 

8.  throw 

8.  wait 

9.  pass 

9.  feel 

9.  manner 

10.  Tuesday 

10.  speak 

10.  flight 

GRADE  6. 

GRADE  7. 

GRADE  8. 

1.  decide 

1.  district 

1.  petrified 

2.  general 

2.  consideration 

2.  tariff 

3.  manner 

3.  athletics 

3.  emergency 

4.  too 

4.  distinguish 

4.  corporation 

5.  automobile 

5.  evidence 

5.  convenience 

6.  victim 

6.  conference 

6.  receipt 

7.  hospital 

7.  amendment 

7.  cordially 

8.  neither 

8.  liquor 

8.  discussion 

9.  toward 

9.  experience 

9.  appreciate 

10.  business 

10.  receive 

10.  decision 

*The  Public  Schools  of  Springfield,  Illinois.  An  educational  sur- 
vey, Division  of  Education,  Russell  Sage  Foundation,  bulletin  E  137. 
1913. 

**A  Measuring  Scale  for  Ability  in  Spelling.  Leonard  P.  Ayers, 
Division  of  Education,  Russell  Sage  Foundation,  1915. 


THE  INSTRUCTION  MEASURED. 


131 


Each  word  was  selected  from  the  1000  words  found,  after 
a  lengthy  investigation,  to  be  the  1000  most  commonly  used 
words  in  writing,  and  placed  in  groups  by  grades,  on  the  basis 
of  an  extended  test  of  each  word  in  the  schools  of  84  cities. 
Each  word  appears  in  the  grade  in  which  it  was  spelled  cor- 
rectly on  an  average  by  70  per  cent  of  the  children.  We  may 
therefore  accept  70  per  cent  as  the  standard  which  each  grade 
in  Salt  Lake  City  should  attain,  if  the  instruction  in  this  sub- 
ject is  as  good  as  the  average  in  a  large  number  o'<f  cities  in 
the  United  States. 

The  list  of  words  was  pronounced  to  the  children  by  the 
regular  classroom  teacher,  in  the  presence  of  a  member  of  the 
survey  staff,  ordinary  class  procedure  obtaining  in  matters  of 
writing,  pronunciation,  explanation  of  words  of  more  than  one 
meaning,  etc.  The  papers  were  collected,  immediately  scored 
by  the  teacher,  and  turned  over  to  the  member  of  the  survey 
in  charge. 

TABLE  15.     SPELLING. 

DISTRIBUTION  OF  AVERAGE  SCORES  BY  SCHOOLS',  BY 
GRADES,  AND  FOR  THE  CITY  AS  A  WHOLE. 

(Ayres  Test.) 


School. 

Total 
Ave. 

Grade. 

VIII  |    VII 

VI 

V     |     IV 

III 

Total  for  City.  .  .  . 

86.0 
81.1 
83.9 
86.1 
89.5 
77.2 
89.0 
84.5 
89.0 
92.4 
84.4 
89.1 
87.8 
84.8 
83.3 
68.9 
93.0 
82.9 
84.4 
91.8 

82.2 

80.2 
79.5 

78.  '2 
86.5 
84.6 

seii 

73.1 

89.5 
76.8 
76.1 

97.9 

76^8 
89.0 

87.1 

95.7 
78.8 
89.1 
95.2 
82.3 
88.7 
82.4 
93.3 
94.4 
82.3 
87.8 
90.0 
89.7 
80.6 
71.0 
91.3 
91.3 
86.0 
95.4 

86.8 

82.5 
82.1 
88.8 
85.8 
90.4 
90.0 
90.3 
92.5 
98.3 
83.9 
96.9 
86.9 
84.1 
73.8 
65.2 
98.4 
89.7 
86.9 
97.1 

87.6 

81.4 
94.5 
92.5 
92.6 
94.6 
92.0 
82.8 
91.1 
96.4 
85.9 
93.0 
76.8 
77.1 
90.0 
83.1 
96.9 
79.3 
86.5 
89.7 

78.8 

62.4 
77.0 
79.5 
80.9 
64.5 
85.3 
75.9 
87.8 
98.7 
85.9 
85.1 
87.4 
81.0 
76.6 
58.8 
78.7 
73.9 
79.9 
85.8 

89.9 

84.1 
94.5 
90.7 
94.4 
92.5 
92.0 
90.6 
86.5 
91.2 
95.9 
85.7 
93.9 
98.7 
95.5 
66.4 
97.2 
75.8 
87.3 
94.4 

Emerson  School  

Forest  School  

Grant  School  
Hamilton  School  
Jackson  School  

Jefferson  School  
Lafayette  School  
Lincoln  School  
Lowell  School  

Onequa  School  
Oquirrh  School  
Poplar  Grove  School.  . 
Riverside  School 

Sumner  School  

Training  School  
Wasatch  School  

Washington  School  .  .  . 
Webster  School  

Whittier  School  

132 


SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 


The  results  of  the  test.  The  results  of  this  test  appear  in 
the  following  tables  and  diagrams,  which  present  the  facts  by 
schools,  by  grades,  for  the  city  as  a  whole,  and  in  comparison 
with  results  obtained  in  three  other  cities  where  this  test  has 
been  used  recently. 

In  Table  No.  15  the  average  score  for  each  grade  in  each 
school,  graded  on  the  scale  of  100  per  cent,  is  presented  in 
detail,  and  at  the  top,  combined  for  the  city  as  a  whole  by 
grades.  The  important  features  of  this  table  are  shown 
graphically  in  Figure  16,  in  which  the  upper  margin  of  the 
shaded  surface  indicates  the  highest  average  score  made  by 
any  grade  in  each  of  the  schools,  the  lower  margin  the  lowest 
average,  the  central  line  the  complete  school  average,  and  the 
straight  line  the  average  for  the  city. 

Certain  facts  stand  out  here  which  may  be  studied  in 
detail  in  the  above  table.  First  of  all,  the  difference  in  the 


8"6  o  c/rr  4V. 


^  G(tAor  *rrc£j*/vc 
*\Cowff5r  AV£X*»ff 


FIG.  16.  KESULTS  OF  THE  SPELLING  TEST,  BY 

SCHOOLS. 


THE  INSTRUCTION  MEASURED. 


133 


efficiency  of  different  grades  in  the  same  school.  From  the 
figures  above  and  below  the  margins,  it  may  be  seen  that  the 
fourth  grade  in  the  Emerson  school  made  only  slightly  above 
60  per  cent,  whereas  grade  seven  made  above  95  per  cent. 
The  Jackson  school  is  a  similar  extreme  case,  *whieh  contrasts 
with  the  record  of  the  Jefferson  school.  Either  the  average 
child  in  the  fourth  grade  of  the  Emerson,  Jackson,  and  Train- 
ing schools  cannot  be  promoted  in  spelling  this  year,  or,  if  so, 
then  the  basis  for  promotion  in  grade  4  must  be  much  lower 
than  that  used  in  promoting  children  in  the  grades  of  these 
same  schools  which  are  represented  by  the  upper  margin  of 
the  diagram. 

The  second  suggestion  offered  by  the  diagram  is  the  dif- 
ference in  school  averages,  varying  as  they  do,  from  slightly 
under  70  per  cent  to  93  per  cent.  One  must  ask  if  that  dif- 
ference represents  the  difference  in  the  basis  of  promotion  in 
spelling  in  the  different  schools,  since  these  children  are  to 
come  up  for  promotion  in  a  few  weeks.  Similarly  a  compar- 
ison of  schools  based  on  the  best  average  score  made  by  any 
grade,  or  on  the  lowest  average  score  made  by  any  grade,  or 
a  comparison  of  any  given  school  with  the  city  average,  shows 
this  same  wide  diversity  of  standards  which  exists  between  dif- 
ferent schools,  and,  in  several  cases,  between  different  grades 
in  the  same  school. 

TABLE  NO.  16. 

SHOWING  THE  PERCENTAGE  OF  CHILDREN  OF  EACH 
GRADE  WHO  ATTAINED  EACH  OF  THE  POS- 
SIBLE SCORES  IN  SPELLING. 

(Ayers  Test.) 


Grade 

Score. 

100  |  90  |  80 

70 

60 

50 

40 

30 

20 
7777 

0.2 

10 
'oiis 

0.3 

0 

VIII  
VII  
VI  
V  

31.6 
39.8 
39.6 
43.1 

20.6 
24.5 
24.8 
26.2 

15.3 
19.3 
17.6 
12  9 

10.4 
7.1 
7.2 
7  ?, 

15.8 
4.5 
5.3 
5  6 

2.4 
2.7 
2.7 
7!  7 

3.1 
1.2 
1.6 
1.7 

0.8 
0.5 
0.9 
0  6 

IV  
Ill  
Total  for  City  

23.8 
53.2 
40.0 

21.0 
20.2 
23.1 

18.7 
12.4 
16.1 

14.2 
6.7 
8.8 

11.4 
3.7 
6.2 

4.3 
1.3 
2.7 

3.5 
1.2 
1.8 

2.3 
0.7 
1.0 

0.8 
0.3 
0.2 

6.3 
0.1 

— 

134  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

Another  fact  which  comes  out  in  this  diagram  is  that  grade 
four  most  often  ranks  lowest,  and  that  grade  three  most  o'ften 
ranks  highest.  It  will  be  recalled  that  grade  three  devotes 
'50  per  cent  n^o^e  time  to  spelling  than  do  the  other  grades. 


Results  of  the  test  by  individuals.  Such  diversities  as 
these  suggest  the  importance  of  studying  the  children  indi- 
vidually rather  than  by  schools  or  grade  groups.  This  is  done 
in  Table  No.  16,  which  shows  the  percentage  of  children  from 
each  grade,  and  'for  the  city  as  a  whole,  who  attained  each  of 
the  possible  scores. 

These  facts  are  shown  graphically  in  Figure  17,  in  which 
the  children  of  each  grade  may  be  studied  individually,  and 
in  comparison  with  those  of  other  grades,  and  with  those  for 
the  city  as  a  whole. 

Looking  first  at  the  distribution  for  the  entire  city,  includ- 
ing the  records  of  nearly  4000  children  —  over  one-fifth  of  all 
the  children  in  the  elementary  schools  —  it  will  be  seen  that  40 
per  cent,  or  4  -of  every  10  children  tested,  spelled  all  the  ten 
words  correctly;  that  over  20  per  cent,  or  2  of  every  10, 
spelled  nine  words  correctly,  and  that  all  the  other  scores, 
except  zero,  are  represented  in  the  diagram  by  a  rapidly  de- 
creasing per  cent  of  the  children.  The  distributions  for  grades 
five,  six,  and  seven  are  much  similar  to  this,  while  those  for 
grades  eight,  four,  and  three  are  different.  More  than  half 
the  children  in  grade  three,  and  less  than  a  fourth  of  the  chil- 
dren in  grade  four,  attained  perfect  scores.  Similar  compar- 
isons may  be  made  by  reference  to  the  median  score,  which  is 
indicated  for  each  section  of  the  diagram.  The  median  or 
middle  score  for  all  the  3988  children  tested  is  91  per  cent, 
which  means  that  one-half  of  the  group,  or  1994  children,  at- 
tained a  score  above  91,  while  the  same  number  if  ell  below  91. 
As  was  shown  by  Figure  16,  grade  four  ranks  lowest  with  a 
median  of  82,  and  grade  three  highest  with  a  median  of  96. 

Uneven  ability  shown.  It  is  clear  from  this  showing  that 
the  test  was  too  easy  for  two-fifths  of  the  children  in  the  Salt 


THE  INSTRUCTION  MEASURED. 


135 


Lake  City  schools.     How  many  more  words  of  equal  difficulty 
these  children  might  have  spelled  can  only  be  conjectured,     ftr 
is  enough  to  say  that  two-fifths  of  the  children  of  these  grades 


U 

*— 


GRADE  ML 

J!t9  CHILDREN 


GRADEYLL 

SSI  CHILDREN 


Ul  »»  to  TO  U  S»  4*  >O  3O  N> 


ENTIRE  CITY  - 

CHILDREN      - 


KM  90  lo.?o  10  iff  4«  70  20 


GRADE'S: 


70W304030 


GRADEH" 

•710  CHILDREN 


10030  to  70  M  50  4030  00 


GRADEEL 


100  30  10  70  40  »  W  30  20  10 


SPELLING  TEST. 


FIG.  17.     SHOWING  FOR  THE  CITY  AS  A  WHOLE,  AND 

BY    GRADES,    THE    PERCENTAGE    OF   CHILDREN 

ATTAINING  EACH  OF  THE  POSSIBLE  SCORES. 


136  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

have  long  since  been  ready  for  promotion,  according  to  the 
standard  of  this  test. 

There  is  another  feature  of  this  diagram,  however,  that 
must  not  be  overlooked,  and  that  is  the  fact  that  in  each  grade 
there  are  a  few  children  who  fail  to  spell  more  than  half  of 
the  ten  words  correctly.  For  the  city  as  a  whole  this  group 
amounts  to  nearly  six  per  cent,  or  approximately  250  of  the 
children  tested.  While  it  is  true  that  Salt  Lake  City  is  not 
unlike  other  cities  in  this  respect,  yet  this  question  should  be 
met  squarely.  While  the  details  for  individual  classes  cannot 
be  shown  here,  the  same  condition  which  obtains  with  respect 
to  whole  grades  in  the  city  obtains  also  in  single  class  rooms. 

Pedagogically  this  makes  a  teaching  situation  which  no 
teacher  can  hope  to  meet  adequately.  With  such  extremes  of 
abilities  in  a  class,  some  children  may  dawdle  their  time  away, 
while  others  are  being  overworked.  It  should  be  remembered 
that  dawdling  is  not  mere  resting,  or  waiting.  On  the  con- 
trary, it  is  a  constructive  part  of  the  child's  training,  which  is 
developing  for  him  slovenly,  half-hearted  habits  of  work  which 
do  not  make  use  of  his  full  capacity  for  achievement.  With 
the  child  who  ranks  far  below  his  class  average  the  case  is 
different.  It  is  the  unusual  teacher  who  does  not  finally  count 
him  a  hopeless  case,  and  permit  him  to  drift,  or,  to  save  her 
own  teaching  reputation,  drive  him  along  by  the  most  unpeda- 
gogical  methods  until  the  process  finally  eliminates  him. 

Comparison  with  three  other  cities.  A  comparison  of  the 
showing  in  Salt  Lake  City  with  that  made  in  three  other  cities 
in  which  this  test  has  been  used  recently  seemed  desirable, 
and  is  presented  in  Table  No.  17.  From  this  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  Salt  Lake  City  schools  rank  well  above  those  of  the 
other  cities  in  all  grades  except  the  eighth,  and  that,  for  the 
city  as  a  whole,  they  stand  6  per  cent  above  all  the  others. 

Discounting  this  showing  liberally  because  it  represents 
the  final  product  of  the  grades,  the  midyear  classes  not  being 
included,  and  it  can  still  be  said  that  Salt  Lake  City  ranks 
high,  probably  highest  'for  the  city  as  a  whole,  and  for  at  least 


THE  INSTRUCTION  MEASURED. 


137 


TABLE  NO.  17. 

SPELLING  TEST— SALT  LAKE  CITY  COMPARED  WITH 
OTHER  CITIES. 

(Ayers  Test.) 


City. 

Grade. 

Ave. 

II     |     III    |     IV 

V 

VI 

VII 

VIII 

Springfield,  111.  . 
*Butte,  Mont.  .. 
**Oakland,  Cal.. 
Salt  Lake  City.. 

70.0 
86.2 
60.4 

65.0 
81.8 
66.7 
89.9 

70.0 
78.7 
75.9 
78.8 

72.0 
84.5 
84.7 
87.6 

68.0 
75.0 
80.2 
86.8 

73.0 
76.2 
79.7 
87.1 

75.0 
89.4 
76.3 
82.2 

70.0 
80.3 
76.5 
86.0 

*Includes  only  B  classes. 

**The  test  in  Oakland  was  given  at  the  beginning  of  the  year,  and 
includes  results  from  both  A  and  B  classes. 

Note:     Salt  Lake  City  should  rank  slightly  higher  than  Oakland 
since  the  test  included  only  the  B  section  of  the  grade. 


three  of  the  grades.  But  again,  reference  must  be  made  to 
the  fact  that  in  Springfield  the  amount  of  time  given  to  spell- 
ing ranges  from  0  to  40  minutes  per  day,  e.  g.,  from  0  to  200 
minutes  per  week ;  that  in  Oakland  the  range  is  from  10  to  200 
minutes  per  week,  with  an  average  of  slightly  less  than  100 
minutes;  while  the  range  in  Salt  Lake  City  is  from  30  to  300 
minutes  per  week,  with  an  average  of  115  minutes.  While 
the  question  of  time  cannot  be  settled  absolutely  for  all  classes 
and  schools  alike,  the  best  investigations  of  this  subject  do  not 
seem  to  warrant  the  recommendation  of  more  than  75  minutes 
per  week  as  a  maximum  amount  of  time  for  the  subject  o'f 
spelling.  While  Salt  Lake  City  has  made  a  decidedly  high 
showing,  the  large  time  cost  which  it  places  upon  the  schools 
must  be  taken  into  account. 

Nor  must  this  excellent  showing  in  general  obscure  the  sit- 
uation pointed  out  above.  It  is  true  that  this  brings  to  light 
one  of  the  most  difficult  problems  in  school  organization.  It 
is  true  too  that  much  the  same  situation  exists  in  other  cities. 
In  a  highly  complex  system  the  individual  child  is  too  apt  to 
be  lost  in  the  midst  of  machinery.  The  cure  is  individual  pro- 
motion, at  reasonably  frequent  intervals,  on  the  basis  of  single 


138  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

subjects,  instead  of  grade  or  groups  of  subjects.  There  are 
many  difficulties  attending  the  administration  of  such  a  rem- 
edy, but  with  adequate  supervision  it  can  be  accomplished. 

2.     THE  TEST  IN  COMPOSITION. 

Some  form  of  language  work  is  taught  in  all  grades. 
Story  telling  and  dramatization  in  the  early  years  anticipate 
the  work  in  written  composition,  which  begins  in  grade  three 
in  the  form  of  letter  writing  and  story  reproduction.  The 
outline  for  this  work  in  the  printed  course  is  most  suggestive, 
leaving  wide  freedom  to  the  teacher,  but  freedom  in  the  midst 
of  rich  suggestions  as  to  what  ends  to  seek  and  what  motives 
to  provide.  Especially  is  it  noticeable  and  commendable  that 
formal  grammar  is  presented  only  as  a  means  of  explaining  and 
clarifying  oral  or  written  expression. 

Th,e  amount  of  time  devoted  to  the  subject  varies  widely 
in  every  grade,  but  on  the  average  increases  gradually  from  75 
minutes  per  week  for  grades  one  and  two,  to  255  minutes  per 
week  for  grade  eight.  Twenty-five  per  cent  more  time  is  given 
to  spelling  in  grade  two  than  is  given  to  language  work,  and 
in  grade  three  fifty  per  cent  more  time,  while  an  equal  amount 
is  given  the  two  subjects  in  grade  four.  This  is  obviously  so 
unreasonable  a  distribution  of  time  between  these  two  subjects 
that  it  should  only  be  necessary  to  discover  that  such  a  dis- 
crepancy exists  in  order  to  have  it  changed. 

Nature  and  method  of  the  composition  test.  The  test, 
which  is  explained  in  the  following  paragraphs  from  a  circular 
placed  in  the  hands  of  the  teachers,  was  given  in  grades  four 
to  eight  inclusive,  in  the  19  schools  selected  for  the  testing 
work. 

COMPOSITION  TEST. 

1.    Each  teacher  is  requested  to  ask  her  children  to  write  a  com- 
position for  her  on  the  following  theme: 

"Suppose  that  you   have   twenty   dollars,   which   you   have   been 


THE  INSTRUCTION  MEASURED.  139 

given  to  spend.     You  have  five  friends,  and  you  decide  to  spend  it  in_ 
such  a  manner  as  will  give  the  most  pleasure  to  each.    Tell  what  you 
would  do  or  buy  for  each  friend.     The  amount  spent  for  each  friend 
need  not  be  the  same,  but  the  total  for  the  five  must  be  twenty  dol- 
lars." 

2.  The  composition  should  be  written  with  pen  and  ink  on  the 
regular  writing  paper. 

3.  After  the  children  are  ready  for  writing,  read  the  subject  to 
them,  give  them  a  minute  or  two  to  ask  any  questions,  and  as  soon  as 
you  are  sure  that  the  children  understand  what  they  are  to  do,  start 
them  at  writing. 

4.  When   the   children   have   finished   collect  the  papers,   fasten 
those  for  each  class  together  with  a  clip,  and  send  to  the  office  of  the 
school  principal. 

No  teacher  marked  her  own  papers,  hence  the  personal 
equation  probably  entered  very  slightly  into  the  scoring,  which 
was  done  by  the  use  of  the  Hillegas  scale  for  measuring  the 
quality  of  English  composition.* 


*Hillegas,  Milo  B. — A  Scale  for  the  Measurement  of  Quality  in 
English  Composition  by  Young  People.  Published  by  Teachers  Col- 
lege, Columbia  University,  1912. 


In  all  there  were  3043  compositions  written,  representing 
a  sample  of  slightly  more  than  16  per  cent  of  the  children  in 
the  elementary  schools  of  the  city. 

The  results  of  the  test.  The  results  of  this  test  are  shown 
briefly  in  the  following  tables  and  diagram. 

In  Table  No.  18  a  complete  distribution  of  scores  attained 
by  each  of  the  grades  is  shown,  together  with  the  median  iscore 
attained  by  each  grade.  From  this  table  it  may  be  seen  that 
the  degree  of  efficiency  rises  gradually  from  grade  four  to 
grade  eight.  That  is,  from  this  test  it  appears  that  the  aver- 
age child  in  the  Salt  Lake  City  schools,  during  the  course  of 
4  years'  training  in  English  composition,  may  be  expected  to 
gain  in  efficiency  the  equivalent  of  21/0  points  on  this  scale,  or 
at  the  rate  o'f  .6  point  per  year.  According  to  the  Butte  Sur- 
vey** the  progress  of  a  child  in  that  city  is  at  the  rate  of  .45 


**Report    of   the    Survey    of    the    School    System    of   Butte,    Montana. 
Published  by  the  Board  of  Education,   1914. 


140 


SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 


TABLE  NO.  18. 
SHOWING  DISTRIBUTION  OP  COMPOSITION  SCORES  OR 

RATINGS,  BY  GRADES. 

(Hillegas  Scale.) 


Grade. 

Ratings  and  Number  in  Each  Grade  Making 
Each  Rating*. 

No.  of 
Sample 

Mediln 

0 

1    |    2 

3    |    4 

5 

6    |    7 

8    |    9 

VIII 

3 
17 
38 
100 
136 

20 
51 
89 
115 
159 

44 
84 
120 
140 
157 

81 
165 
123 
133 
159 

87 
95 
106 
69 
51 

92 
88 
67 
53 
43 

82 
70 
31 
21 
15 

29 
13 
8 
1 

45 
13 
4 

483 
597 
587 
653 
723 

5.4 
4.4 
3.8 
3.1 
2.9 

VII  . 

1 
1 
21 
3 

VI  

V  

IV  . 

*The  actual  values  are  not  0,  1,  2,  3,  4,  etc.,  but  0,  183,  260,  369.  474, 
585,  675,  772,  838,  and  937.  Full  explanation  of  how  these  values  were 
derived,  and  of  the  nature  and  purpose  of  the  scale  are  explained  by  its 
author  in  Teachers'  College  Record  for  September,  1912. 


point  on  the  scale  per  year.  Most  of  the  points  in  this  table 
are  'brought  out  more  effectively  in  Figure  18,  which  shows 
for  each  grade  the  percentage  of  the  children  who  attained 
each  of  the  possible  scores. 

The  achievement  for  the  median  child  in  grade  four,  and 
that  for  the  median  child  of  grade  eight,  are  indicated  by  the 
long  vertical  lines  drawn  through  the  entire  diagram.  Be- 
tween these,  at  fairly  regular  intervals,  with  one  exception, 
appear  the  short  vertical  lines  representing  the  medians  of  the 
three  intervening  grades.  This  seems  to  suggest  that  the  com- 
position work  is  equally  well  done  in  all  these  five  grades. 
Closer  examination  of  the  exception  referred  to  shows  that 
the  rate  of  progress  for  grade  ifour  has  been  substantially 
higher  than  that  for  the  other  grades.  It  will  be  recalled  that 
grade  four  ranked  lowest  in  spelling.  If  that  was  because  this 
grade  was  working  harder  on  composition,  then  it  is  the 
writer's  opinion  that  the  schools  can  well  afford  to  permit  the 
spelling  scores  of  all  grades  to  drop  from  5  to  10  per  cent 
more,  especially  since  more  than  25  per  cent  more  time  is  given 


SCORES:      01 


23456 

MEDIAN   SCORES: 
PER  CENT. OF  PUPILS 

-20 


GRADE 


GRADE  TBL 


GRADE 


GRADE 3 


GRADE -I? 


SCORE:    0 
FIG.  18.     RESULTS  OF  THE  COMPOSITION  TEST. 


142  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

to  spelling  than  is  desirable.  Particularly  in  the  language 
work  of  the  early  grades  could  this  time  be  used  to  far  better 
advantage. 

Children  well  classified  for  language  work.  By  this  dia- 
gram attention  is  also  called  to  the  wide  variety  of  abilities 
found  in  each  grade.  This  was  found  to  be  characteristic  also 
of  individual  classes,  and  presents  the  same  teaching  difficulties 
as  were  pointed  out  above  in  connection  with  spelling.  How 
to  assign  a  lesson,  or  how  to  discuss  sentence  or  paragraph 
formation,  or  the  details  of  letter  writing,  with  a  class  con- 
taining children  as  widely  apart  in  ability  as  are  those  repre- 
sented by  the  outer  ends  of  the  different  sections  of  this  dia- 
gram, would  be  difficult  to  state.  In  fact  it  cannot  be  done 
without  losing  time  for  some  members  of  the  class. 

The  diagram  shows  that  there  are  nearly  8  per  cent,  almost 
60  children  of  the  fourth  grade,  whose  composition  scored 
higher  than  that  written  by  the  average  child  in  grade  eight. 
It  is  not  merely  unfair  to  these  60  children,  but  unfair  to  the 
city's  future  citizenship,  to  say  nothing  of  the  money  cost 
involved,  that  these  60  children,  who  probably  represent  the 
real  future  leadership  of  the  city,  should  not  be  promoted  to 
where  full,  not  half  opportunity,  will  be  given  them  in  this 
subject. 

Samples  of  average  composition.  In  order  that  the  reader 
may  judge  for  himself  of  the  quality  of  work  the  schools  are 
doing  in  composition,  the  children's  papers  from  the  different 
schools  have  been  looked  over  and  those  papers  'from,  each 
grade  which  received  the  score  nearest  the  median  (approxi- 
mately the  average)  for  the  grade  have  been  sorted  out. 
Prom  these  the  following  compositions  have  been  selected  as 
typical  illustrations,  not  of  the  best  or  the  poorest,  but  of 
the  average  compositions  from  each  grade  tested.  They  are 
presented  here  exactly  as  written,  spelled,  and  punctuated  in 
the  original,  except  that  proper  names  have  been  omitted. 


THE  INSTRUCTION  MEASURED.  143 

NO.    1.     GRADE   4B,   SCORE   2.60    (WRITTEN  BY  A  GIRL  AGE   11 
YEARS,  9  MONTHS). 

On  Christmas  my  uncle  came  on  a  visit.  He  gave  me  twenty  dol- 
lars to  spent.  I  planed  what  I  could  do  to  make  some  one  happy. 
While  I  was  thinking  I  thought  of  some  poor  people. 

Which  had  five  children.  So  that  I  could  see  what  they  needed 
most.  I  went  and  played  with  them.  After  I  saw  what  they  needed 
I  went  home.  And  with  some  of  my  friends  I  went  up  town.  And 
bought  five  pairs  of  shoes  for  eleven  dollars,  five  dresses  for  six 
dollars,  two  loaves  of  bread  for  twenty  cents,  and  five  pairs  of  stock- 
ings one  dollar  and  ten  cents  five  gloves  for  one  dollar  and  seventy 
cents.  So  not  I  was  the  only  one  happy  but  they  were  also  happy 
and  glad. 

NO.   2.     GRADE   5B,   SCORE   3.69    (WTRITTEN  BY  A   GIRL   AGE    11 
YEARS,  7  MONTHS). 

The  other  day  as  I  was  playing  in  the  yard,  I  spied  something  in 
the  grass  which  looked  like  a  penny.  But  when  I  came  near  it  was 
much  larger  and  heavier. 

The  next  day  I  called  five  of  my  friends  in,  M — ,  D — ,  B — ,  A — , 
and  H — .  I  told  them  to  get  ready,  and  we  would  go  to  Lagoon. 

At  last  we  were  ready  and  now  we  are  on  our  way.  The  train 
stops  and  we  get  of  ready  to  give  the  rest  of  our  ticket  to  the  door 
tender.  I  have  spent  two  dollars  already,  but  now  I  am  going  take 
them  on  the  chutes  and  next  the  cenick  railway.  We  must  not 
forget  the  boats  and  the  little  train  and  merry-go-round. 

After  that  comes  the  lunch,  for  we  did  not  bring  any. 

After  that  we  must  all  play  some  kind  of  a  game,  and  win 
a  little  poodle  dog.  Next  the  doll  game  which  all  of  us  will  play 
for.  The  fishing  game  is  the  game  that  you  play  for  jewelry.  I 
bought  a  vase  which  cost  six  dollars,  and  that  was  the  prize  for  the 
one  who  got  the  most  peanuts  after  they  were  hiden.  We  have 
($5.40)  five  dollars  and  forty  cents  left  for  which  will  by  ($.40)  worth 
of  nuts  and  the  rest  will  be  for  carfare  home. 

NO.  3.  GRADE  6  B,  SCORE  3.69  (WRITTEN  BY  A  BOY,  AGE  12 
YEARS  AND  9  MONTHS). 

I  have  friends  who  live  in  the  country.      Their  names   are  P — 

C— ,   C—  C ,   F—  C ,  R—  C ,   and  M—  C .     They  had 

never  visited  the  city  One  summer  I  was  out  there.  I  allways  piled 
with  questions  about  the  city.  One  day  I  asked  them  how  they  would 
like  to  go  back  with  me  and  see  the  city.  They  were  so  delighted 


144  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

that  they  could  not  keep  still.  In  P — 's  delightment  he  ran  into  the 
cow  which  politely  lifted  in  the  air  an  set  him  on  top  of  the  hay 
stack.  The  next  day  we  started  for  the  city  about  noon  and  we 
reached  it.  The  minute  we  were  off  the  train  they  began  pointing  to 
sky  scraper  and  crying  excitedly.  Oh  isn't  it  a  tall  one.  F —  said  he 
sposed  it  reached  to  heaven.  While  C —  was  looking  at  one  of  the 
tall  buildings  he  ran  into  a  man.  We  went  into  a  resteront  a  had  a 
good  dinner  which  costs  us  two  dollars  apiece.  After  the  dinner  we 
went  to  the  show  which  was  one  dollar.  M —  wanted  to  know  what 
made  the  trolley  cars  go.  We  went  for  a  ride,  we  rode  about  five 
miles.  It  cost  me  one  dollar  for  the  ride.  When  we  got  ready  to 
go  home  we  got  on  the  cars  and  found  out  that  I  couldn't  find  my 
pocket  book.  We  walked  all  the  way  home.  We  got  home  I  found 
the  pocket  book  in  my  hat  R —  had  put  it  there.  I  gave  the  four 
dollars  for  their  home.  They  said  they  hadent  a  better  time. 

NO.   4.     GRADE   7B,   SCORE   4.74    (WRITTEN  BY   A  BOY,   AGE   14 
YEARS,    3   MONTHS) 

One  sunny  morning  in  May  my  five  cousins  who  where  on  their 
way  to  see  the  fair  at  Frisco  stopped  on  their  way  and  came  to  see 
me.  My  father  gave  me  twenty  dollars  to  intertain  them.  I  was 
busy  thinking  of  the  best  way  to  do  it.  I  finally  decided  to  go  to 
the  Bingham  Copper  Mines.  This  was  satisfactory  to  all  and  tak- 
ing along  a  lunch  we  started  off. 

When  we  got  there  it  was  noon  and  everybody  was  hungry  so 
we  opened  up  the  lunch  and  ate  until  there  was  not  a  crumb  left. 
Next  we  hired  a  guide  to  show  us  through  the  mines  and  what  a 
sight  we  seen.  There  were  walls  of  dirt  seemingly  covered  with  the 
yellow  mettle.  Our  guid  showed  us  where  the  elevators  were  on 
which  they  sent  the  copper  to  the  top.  Next  he  showed  us  the  don- 
keys which  hauled  the  little  dump  cart  to  the  elevators.  After 
taking  us  trough  all  the  mines  he  showed  us  where  the  minors 
lived. 

Here  our  journey  ended  after  each  buying  a  souvenir  we  de- 
parted for  home  each  one  satisfied  with  the  way  of  spending  twenty 
dollars. 

NO.  5.  GRADE  8B,  SCORE  5.85  (WRITTEN  BY  A  BOY.  AGE  ?) 

DEAR  J— . 

Two  days  ago  uncle  gave  me  twenty  dollars,  to  get  Christmas 
presents  with.  I  was  on  my  way  down  town,  to  get  them,  when  I 
saw  two  ragged  little  boys.  I  stopped  and  said,  to  them,  "Well 
Johnny  what  are  you  going  to  get  for  Christmas." 

"I  aint  going  to  get  nothing  this  Christmas,  for  mamma  hasn't 


THE  INSTRUCTION  MEASURED. 


145 


got    any   money.     Where   do   you   live,    "Across   the    street   in   that 
wooden  house,"  answered  the  boy. 

You  take  this  five  dollars  over  to  your  mamma  and  then  hurry 
back  and  I  will  take  you  up  town.  So  I  took  them  up  town,  and 
got  them  some  warm  clothes  and  then  took  them  to  a  show.  So 
I  spent  fifteen  dollars  on  three  of  them.  There  was  Mother  and 
Father  left  so  I  got  father  a  shaving  set  which  cost  three  dollars  and 
a  half  and  I  got  Mother  some  Handkerchiefs  for  a  dollar  and  a  half 
which  took  all  my  money.  Merry  Christmas. 
Your  old  friend, 

H . 

On  the  formal  side  there  are  plenty  of  errors  in  these 
papers,  in  spelling,  in  punctuation,  in  sentence  formation,  etc., 
and  one  or  two  seem  rather  formal  and  dry.  But  in  most  of 
them  there  is  evidence  of  some  play  of  the  imagination,  and 
fairly  free  expression.  Most  of  the  vocabularies  seem  ade- 
quate, and  in  such  details  these  samples  seem  to  indicate 
that  the  composition  work  is  fairly  well  taught.  It  must  be 
remembered  that  these  are  but  average  compositions,  and  not 
compositions  selected  because  o'f1  their  special  merit. 

Salt  Lake  City's  Composition  work.  There  is  but  little 
data  which  can  be  offered  for  comparison,  but  such  as  is 
available  is  presented  in  Table  No.  19.  From  this  it  is  seen 


TABLE  NO.  19. 

COMPARING   SALT    LAKE   -CITY'S    MEDIAN    COMPOSI- 
TION SCORES  WITH  THOSE  ATTAINED  IN 
OTHER  STATES. 


Grade 

IScoro 

Median 

SaltLake 
1      City 

Butte, 
Mont.* 

Maryland, 
&  N.  Y.City** 

Deleware 
Co.  O.*** 

Delaware 
City. 

VIII    

5  4       1 

4  11 

3  94 

527 

VII  

4  4 

3  75 

5  75  to  70 

VI    

3.8       1 

3  40 

V 

3  1 

2  87 

5  15 

IV   . 

2.9 

2.34 

*The  Butte  .Survey,  p.  74. 

**P.   J.   Kelly.     Teachers'   Marks,   Their  Variability   and  iStandardiza- 
tion.  Col.  Univ.  1914. 

***Report  of  the  Ohio  State  School  Survey,   1914. 


146  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

* 

that  in  every  grade  Salt  Lake  City  ranks  well  above  Butte, 
above  the  eighth  grade  rural  schools  of  Delaware  Co.,  Ohio, 
and  above  the  eighth  grade  children  of  Delaware  City,  Ohio, 
but  below  the  classes  in  Maryland  and  N.  Y.  City. 

Conclusions  and  recommendations.  It  should  be  said 
then  in  conclusion: 

1st.  That  while  the  schools  rank  fairly  well  as  compared 
in  Table  No.  19,  yet  the  fact  that  some  classes  in  N.  Y.  City 
have  made  higher  scores  indicates  that  there  is  yet  room  for 
improvement.  There  were  individual  classes  in  Salt  Lake 
City  which  ranked  as  high  as  the  N.  Y.  City  classes,  which 
shows  that  higher  standards  than  are  shown  by  the  table 
have  already  been  attained  by  some  schools  in  the  city. 

2nd.  That  the  fourth  grade  which  ranked  low  in  spell- 
ing is  doing  superior  work  in  composition,  and  that  other- 
wise the  progress  has  been  about  equal  in  the  other  grades, 
which  indicates  that  there  is  in  general  a  common  standard 
for  promotion  in  English  work  throughout  the  city. 

3rd.  That  there  is  ample  evidence  that  classes  are  not 
well  graded,  when  so  large  a  num'ber  of  fourth  grade  chil- 
dren are  doing  work  equal  to  that  of  the  average  eighth  grade 
pupils,  and  when  nearly  an  equal  number  of  eighth  grade 
pupils  rank  below  the  average  fourth  grade  pupil. 

4th.  From  the  compositions  written  there  is  arable  evi- 
dence that  the  excellent  aims  for  English  work,  as  set  'forth 
in  the  printed  course  of  study,  are  being  achieved,  and  that 
many  of  the  common  errors  of  teaching  the  formal  and  techni- 
cal aspects  of  English  work  are  being  successfully  avoided. 

5th.  It  is  recommended  that  a  portion  of  the  time  now 
devoted  to  formal  spelling  drill  be  given  over,  in  the  early 
grades,  to  the  broader  work  in  English,  and  that  by  the  use 
of  ungraded  rooms,  smaller  classes,  and  more  elastic  methods 
of  promotion,  the  very  bright  and  the  very  dull  pupils  be 
given  more  adequate  attention  than  is  either  possible  or 
economical  under  the  present  classification. 


THE  INSTRUCTION  MEASURED.  147 

3.     THE  WRITING  TEST. 

Writing  in  the  school  curriculum.  Writing  is  taught  in 
all  grades,  beginning  with  free  arm  work  at  the  blackboard, 
gradually  taking  up  the  pencil,  and  in  the  third  grade  the 
pen.  During  the  first  two  years  an  average  of  50  minutes 
per  week,  and  through  the  other  grades  an  average  of  75 
minutes  per  week  is  given  to  the  subject,  which  is  slightly 
less  than  has  recently  been  found  to  be  the  average  for  66 
American  cities.*  The  aim  for  teaching  writing  appears  to 
be  that  of  legibility  rather  than  mere  beauty,  and  the  instruc- 
tions in  the  printed  course  of  study  lay  appropriate  emphasis 
upon  the  hygienic  aspect  of  the  teaching  of  the  subject. 

How  the  writing1  was  measured.  The  test  was  given 
to  the  same  classes  and  schools  as  were  tested  for  spelling, 
including  about  20  per  cent  of  the  children  in  the  elementary 
schools  of  the  city.  For  this  test  each  child  was  provided 
with  a  blank  sheet  of  unruled  writing  paper,  at  the  top  of 
which  was  printed  the  following  brief  instructions  and  para- 
graph, as  shown  here: 

WRITE    THE    FOLLOWING   AS    WELL    AS    YOU    CAN    AT    YOUR 

USUAL   SPEED.     DO   NOT  WRITE   SLOWLY,  AND  DO   NOT 

HURRY   BUT   WRITE   JUST   AS   YOU   WOULD 

WRITE   A   LESSON. 

After  this  the  squirrels  used  to  come  in  every  day,  and  when  she 
put  corn  in  her  hand  and  held  it  very  still,  they  would  eat  out  of 
it.  Finally  they  would  get  into  her  hand,  until  one  day  she  gently 
closed  it  over  them  so  that  Frisky  and  Titbit  were  fairly  caught. 
Oh,  how  their  hearts  beat!  But  the  good  fairy  only  spoke  gently 
to  them,  and  soon  opened  her  hand  and  let  them  go  again. 

These  were  given  to  the  children  by  their  teachers  just 
as  a  class  exercise,  and  when  finished  the  papers  for  each 
class  were  turned  over  to  the  principal,  who  forwarded  them 
to  the  principal  of  another  school  across  the  city,  whose  teach- 
ers scored  the  papers  by  use  of  the  Thorndike  scale  for  mea- 
suring handwriting.* 

Results  by  schools  and  by  grades.     The  results  of  this 


*Freeman,   Frank  N.,   in   the  Fourteenth  Year  Book   of   the   National 
Society  for   the   Study  of   Education,   Part  I.      Chicago  Univ.   Press. 


148 


SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 


test  are  shown  in  detail  by  schools  and  by  grades  in  the  fol- 
lowing tables  and  diagrams.  The  scoring  is  done,  according 
to  the  scale,  on  the  basis  of  4  to  18,  instead  of  from  0  to  100. 
The  reason  for  this  is  immaterial,  but  should  be  understood  in 
order  to  interpret  the  following  tables.  Remembering  that  4 
means  practically  0,  and  that  18  means  approximately  100, 
the  reader  will  readily  understand  Table  No.  20,  which  pre- 
sents the  average  scores  by  schools  and  by  grades,  and  then 
combines  these  for  the  city  as  a  whole.  A  careful  study  of 
this  table  shows  that,  judged  by  grade  averages,  no  one  school 
ranks  especially  low  or  especially  high,  though  the  S'umner 
record  is  consistently  above  the  average  for  the  city.  In  other 
words,  the  differences  between  schools  are  nowhere  striking, 
and  the  gradual  rise  of  the  average  score  from  9.3  in  grade 
three,  to  13.1  in  grade  eight  shows  evidence  of  uniformity  in 

TABLE  NO.  20. 

DISTRIBUTION  OP  AVERAGE  SCORES  IN  PENMANSHIP 
BY  SCHOOLS  AND  BY  GRADES. 


GRADE                                | 

Ill 

IV 

v 

VI 

VII  | 

VIII 

For  the   City 

9  3 

10  7 

10  9 

11  2 

12  1 

13  1 

IW.  1 

IV»  .* 

Emerson  School    

9.6 

9  5 

12.5 

10.9 

12.4 

11.3 

Forest   School 

9  3 

10  4 

10  2 

9  9 

11  9 

13  2 

Grant  School 

Q      O 

10  1 

10  9 

10  9 

10  4 

Hamilton  School   .... 

11  9 

10  1 

11  5 

12  9 

12  5 

Jackson  School   

10  7 

10  7 

9  9 

10.5 

11.4 

13. 

Jefferson  School   

9.5 

11.3 

11.5 

11.3 

11.6 

Lafayette  School 

10  5 

11  3 

10  6 

10  3 

12  2 

14  7 

Lincoln  School  ... 

9  0 

9  2 

9  0 

11 

11  2 

Lowell  School    

8.6 

10.6 

11.7 

11.8 

14. 

14.6 

Onequa  School  

10.5 

11.6 

10.9 

9.9 

12.2 

13.5 

OQuirrh  School 

8  7 

10  7 

12  2 

13  3 

12  1 

Poplar  Grove  School 

9  5 

9  8 

11  3 

11  6 

12.4 

Riverside  School  

9.4 

12.7 

9.8 

11. 

12. 

12.2 

Sumner  School 

10  2 

13  8 

12  4 

12  2 

12  7 

13  9 

Training  School 

7  1 

9  0 

9  8 

9  6 

11  6 

12.5 

Wasatch  School    

12.7 

13.4 

11.3 

12.4 

12.3 

Washington  School    

8.9 

9.7 

9.5 

10.7 

11.2 

Webster  School 

7  6 

11  1 

10  7 

12  1 

12  8 

11  6 

Whittier   School    . 

9.1 

11.7 

11.4 

12.0 

12.8 

14.7 

*Thorndike,  Edward  L.  A  Scale  for  Handwriting  of  Children  in 
Grades  5  to  8,  published  by  Teachers  College,  Col.  Univ.,  N.  Y.  For  full 
explanation  of  how  the  scale  was  derived  see  Teachers  College  Record, 
March,  1910. 


THE   INSTRUCTION    MEASURED,  14\) 

teaching  standards  throughout  the  city.  Since  there  is  little 
uniformity  with  respect  to  the  amount  of  time  assigned  to  this 
.subject  in  the  different  schools,  it  is  of  interest  to  state  that  the 
school  which  makes  the  lowest  standing  in  the  test  is  devoting 
nearly  one-third  less  than  the  average  amount  of  time  to  the 
subject.  A  pleasant  and  profitable  diversion  for  each  principal, 
would  be  the  figuring  out  of  the  actual  time-cost  of  his  school's 
achievement  per  unit  attained  on  the  scale. 

Variability  among  individuals  in  the  same  grade.  Aver- 
ages are  important,  but  do  not  tell  the  complete  story,  and 
the  reader  is  referred  to  Table  N'o.  21,  which  shows  the  en- 

TABLE    NO.    21. 

THE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  SCORES  ON  3685  SAMPLES  OF 
PENMANSHIP  BY  GRADES. 


Score 

GRADES,  number  making  score. 

Ill 

3 
4 
21 
55 
85 
196 
46 
102 
44 
39 
11 
4 
4 

IV 

5 
30 
63 
175 
37 
152 
60 
101 
38 
12 
9 
4 
1 

V 

3 
59 
147 
23 
190 
65 
98 
41 
15 
4 
1 

VI 

3 
3 
26 
117 

38 
!53 
92 
87 
52 
20 
10 

1 

VII 

2 
8 
70 
12 
163 
91 
189 
68 
3: 
24 
2 
2 
"662 

VIII 

28 
4 
97 
81 
84 
50 
35 
61 
10 
22 

~~472  " 

o 

1   ...       . 

9 

3 

4   ... 

5  .  

6 

7  

8 

9  

10  

11 

12  

13 

14  

15 

16  

17  .  

18  .  . 

No.  of  Samples.  . 

616 

687  1  646  1  602 

Median  Score  for  Grade |     9.2  |  10.7  |  11.0  |  11.3  |  12.2  |  12.8 

tire  distribution  of  the  scores  attained  by  the  children  <>F  each 
grade,  the  number  of  samples  included,  and  the  rank  of  the 
median  sample.  These  facts  are  brought  out  clearly  in  Fig- 
ure 19,  which  shows  the  same  wide  variation  from  the  aver- 
age, so  apparent  in  the  spelling  and  language  results.  The 
two  vertical  dotted  lines  enclose  the  records  of  all  the  chil- 


SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 


dren   who  scored  between  8  and  17,  thus  showing  the  exten- 
sive overlapping  between  grades  widely  apart. 


20- 


~ 

5-- 


--  GRADE  NHL 


MEDIAN'    11.1 


20-- 
15 
fo 
$ 


6RADE2H 

MEDIAN  '   TO.Z 


stone*:  0    I    2  3  4  3  6   7  T  '9    10  I!  12  15  /*  0  J6il7  Jf 
FIG.   19.    SHOWING   THE   PERCENTAGE   OP  CHILDREN 
WHO  ATTAINED  EACH  OF  THE  POSSIBLE  SCORES. 
(Thorndike  Scale.) 

Since   the   instruction   in   writing   is  an    individual   rather 
than  a  group  procedure,  classification  of  children  on  the  basis 


THE   INSTRUCTION    MEASURED,  JM 

of  this  subject  is  not  at  all  important.  But  teachers  will  not 
need  to  study  this  diagram  long'  to  discover  that  there  arc 
quite  a  number  of  third  grade  children  in  the  schools  who 
even  now  are  ready  for  the  eighth  grade  writing  classes;  or, 
rice  versa,  that  there  are  many  children  now  in  the  eighth 
grade  who  write  no  better  than  the  better  writers  in  grade 
three.  Assuming  that  all  have  had  approximately  similar 
training,  as  far  as  they  have  gone,  we  may  reasonably  con- 
clude that  these  differences  are  largely  due  to  differences  in 
the  ;native  abilities  of  individual  children. 

However  true  this  may  be,  the  results  of  the  test  em- 
phasize the  importance  of  making  provision  for  these  differ- 
ences by  further  individualizing  the  instruction,  and  by  pro- 
viding special  treatment  for  the  few  who  do  not  understand 
and  do  not  improve  under  ordinary  methods.  This  is  as  eco- 
nomical as  it  is  wise  from  the  children's  standpoint.  Still  fur- 
ther, if  third,  fourth  and  fifth  grade  children  can  nmv  write  as 
well  or  better  than  is  expected  of  the  average  eighth  grade  pu- 
pil, then  it  is  entirely  wrong  to  have  such  children  spending  75 
minutes  per  week  on  this  subject.  'Such  children  should  be 
excused  from  formal  work  in  writing,  with  the  understand- 
ing that  so  long  as  their  written  work  shows  a  certain  quality 
this  extra  time  may  be  used  on  other  studies.  Such  methods 
of  saving  time  are  commendable  because  they  stimulate  those 
children  to  do  their  best  who  might  otherwise  merely  drift, 
for  the  reason  that  it  is  no  trouble  for  them  to  keep  ahead  of 
their  classes. 

Comparison  with  other  cities.  To  compare  the  results 
of  this  test  in  Salt  Lake  City  with  those  achieved  elsewhere, 
comparable  data  from  several  sources  have  been  brought  to- 
gether in  Table  No.  22. 

Here  the  median,  which  differs  very  slightly  from  tin- 
average,  has  been  used,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
schools  of  Salt  Lake  City  rank  high  in  two  respects. 
First,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  cases  in  the  seven  school 
systems  tested  by  Dr.  Stone,  no  schools  cited  rank  as  high  : 


152 


SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 


TABLE  NO.  22. 

SHOWING  THE  COMPARATIVE  STANDING  OF  THE  SALT 

LAKE  CITY  SCHOOLS  IN  PENMANSHIP,  AS  JUDGED 

BY    THE    MEDIAN    SCORE    FOR    EACH    GRADE. 

(Thorndike   Scale.) 


City 

GRADE,  and  Median  Score 

11          III 

IV 

V 

VI         VII   |  Vill 

Butte     1 

8  2 

8  0 

8  8 

8  9 

11  6 

11  2 

12  1 

Cornersville,  Ind.  2  .... 

10.3 

10.0 

10.3 

11.7 

11.7 

11.0 

Southington,  Conn.  3..| 

10.0 

/ 

10.3 

10.3 

1 

11.1 

11.2 

:o.6 

11.0 

Seven  School  Systems  4 

11.3 

11.7 

12.7 

11.6 

|  13.0 

13.7 

[  13.0 

14.0 

Gait    Lake   Citv.  . 

9.2 

10.7 

11  .1 

11  .3 

12  2 

12  8 

1.  Butte  School  Survey,  Chap.  IV. 

2.  Wilson— Writing  of  school  children;    in  Elem.   Sch.  Tr.,  June, 
1911    (1,200  children). 

3.  Witham — All  the  Elements  of  Handwriting  measured:     Educl. 
Admin,   and   Supv.,  May,   1915. 

4.  Stone — Quoted     by     Thorndike,     Investigation     covers     seven 
school   systems   and   about   3,000   children.     Trs.,   Col.   Record,   March, 
1910. 

and  second,  because  the  progress  from  grade  to  grade  is  much 
more  even  in  the  Salt  Lake  City  schools  than  in  most  of  the 
other  cases.  In  time  it  will,  be  possible  to  standardize  the 
matter  of  progress  from  grade  to  grade.  Until  then  it  is  fail- 
to  assume  that  a  reasonably  even  rate  of  progress  is  more 
nearly  normal  than  is  an  uneven  rate. 

How  well  the  average  child  can  write.  As  in  the  ease 
of  the  compositions  there  is  presented  here,  in  Figure  20,  a 
sample  specimen  of  the  writing  from  the  papers  in  each  grade 
which  received  a  mark  approximately  that  of  the  grade 
median. 

Selection  on  the  basis  *  of  the  median  means  that  there 
are  as  many  children  in  these  grades  in  Salt  Lake  City  wlio 
can  write  better  than  the  .specimens  shown  in  Figure  20  as 
there  are  who  cannot  write  so  well. 


THE  INSTRUCTION  MEASURED. 


153 


* 

GRADE       TTT 


Q/V 

GRADE       TV 


G<>Vyv//r^ 

GRADE      X 


GRADE     30L 


GRADE 


&> 


GRADE     YEH 

FIG.     20.       SAMPLE     REPRESENTING     THE     MEDIAN 
ACHIEVEMENT  IN  WRITING  IN  EACH  GRADE. 

(Reduced   y2   in  size.) 

It  can  be  said  that  these  samples  fairly  represent  the  kind 
of  writing  which  is  now  being  done  by  the  average  children 
of  each  grade  in  the  city.  That  is,  there  are  as  many  children 
in  the  city  who  can  write  better  than  these  samples  (grade 
one  and  two  omitted)  as  there  are  children  who-  cannot  write 
as  well.  The  average  business  man  will  do  well  to  place  his 


154  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

*•  "-  <  • 

own  writing  by  the  side  of  either  of  the  last  two  of  these 
specimens  before  arguing  that  the  children  of  the  public 
schools  cannot  write.  It  is  true  that  some  of  the  writing 
was  done  with  a  cramped  hand,  and  that  it  is  somewhat 
childish  looking,  but  it  must  be  added  that  it  is  easily  legible 
and  that  legibility  is  the  final  test  which  the  world  puts  upon 
writing. 

Needed  changes  in  instruction.  In  conclusion  we  must 
say  that  the  writing  work  in  the  schools  of  this  city  is  well 
up  to  the  standard;  that  in  the  light  of  present  practice 
this  work  is  being  accomplished  in  a  resonable  amount  of 
time;  and  that  the  basis  for  promotion  in  the  different  schools 
appears  to  be  equal,  but  that  more  careful  individualization 
of  instruction  for  the  lower  five  to  ten  per  cent  of  each  grade, 
and  the  temporary  relieving  from  formal  training  of  those  who 
are  several  points  ahead  of  their  grades,  are  lines  along  which 
the  schools  may  look  for  even  greater  progress. 

A.    THE  TEST  IN  READING. 

Reading  in  the  course  of  study.  Almost  every  classroom 
visited  by  the  members  of  the  survey  showed  evidence  that 
the  point  of  view,  the  aim  and  purpose,  and  the  general 
method  for  teaching  reading,  so  clearly  set  forth  in  the  print- 
ed course  of  study,  are  being  effectively  carried  out.  The 
time  allotment,  which  varies  from  50  to  more  than  900  minutes 
per  week  between  classes  in  the  city,  with  an  average  of  from 
200  to  375  minutes  per  week  in  the  different  grades ;  and  the 
constant  attention  to  home  as  well  as  school  reading,  which 
one  finds  in  every  classroom ;  give  evidence  that  the  schools 
of  the  city  have  not  underestimated  the  importance  of  this 
subject,  nor  the  fact  that  teaching  children  how  to  read  is 
but  incidental  in  teaching  them  to  read.  'Speed,  getting  the 
meaning,  remembering  the  language  used, — that  is,  develop- 
ing vocabulary, — and  that  clear  expression  which  is  evidence 
of  appreciation,  all  are  ends  to  be  sought  in  teaching  read- 
ing. 


THE  INSTRUCTION  MEASURED.  155 

How  the  reading  was  tested.  To  provide  a  test  by  which 
we  may  be  able  to  make  a  quantitative  statement  of  the  de- 
gree of  efficiency  attained  by  a  given  child  or  class  in  all 
these  features,  is  in  large  part  the  work  of  the  future.  A 
simple  test  of  speed  and  of  accuracy  of  memory  'for  words 
used  has  been  devised,  and  this  was  applied  in  thirteen  schools, 

The  test,  which  is  printed  on  pages  156  and  157,  and  which 
is  known  as  the  Courtis  test,  consist  of  a  simple  prose  story 
which  the  children  were  asked  to  read  silently,  with  as  great 
speed  and  with  as  great  care  as  possible.  They  were  told  that 
they  would  be  permitted  to  read  a  certain  length  of  time,  after 
which  they  would  be  tested  to  see  what  they  knew  of  the 
part  they  had  read.  Exactly  one  minute  was  given,  at  the 
end  of  which  each  child  drew  a  ring  around  the  last  word 
he  had  read.  By  use  of  the  figures  on  the  margin  the  num- 
ber of  words  read  in  one  minute  (the  child's  speed)  was 
quickly  ascertained  and  recorded  in  the  square  at  the  upper 
left  hand  corner  of  what  was  called  Test  No.  1. 

In  Test  No.  2  no  time  limit  was  enforced.  In  this  test 
the  same  story  is  used,  but  instead  of  the  subject  being  "Bes- 
sie's Adventures,"  we  have  "Bessie's  (Experiences,  Adentures, 
Story."  This  same  idea  is  carried  out  throughout  the  body  of 
the  story,  and  the  test,  which  is  a  test  of  memory  for  words 
used,  consists  in  checking  the  one  of  these  three  words  (three 
words  always  appear  in  italics  enclosed  in  parentheses)  which 
the  pupil  remembers  as  the  word  he  read  in  Test  No.  1.  These 
puzzles,  or  points,  as  they  were  termed  in  the  explanation  to  the 
children,  are  numbered  on  the  margin,  as  were  the  words  in 
Test  No.  1.  When  the  child  had  checked  the  words  down  as 
far  as  he  had  read  the  story  in  Test  No.  1,  he  drew  a  line 
around  the  last  word,  and,  with  assistance,  recorded  in  the 
proper  place  the  number  of  points  he  had  read.  The  papers 
were  then  taken  by  the  teacher,  who  verified  the  count  made 
by  the  children  and  assembled  the  scores  for  her  class  on  a 
record  sheet  designed  for  that  purpose. 


156  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

ENGLISH.    NORMAL  READING. 
TEST  NO.  1.     SPEED  TEST. 

(Copyrighted  by  S.  A.  Courtis,  1914.) 
Bessie's  (Adventures,   Experiences,  Story). 


SCORE 

BESSIE'S  ADVENTURES.  Number  of 

Words.. 


No.  of 
Words 

Before  the  frightened  little  girl  could  decide  what  to  do,  the  dog  sat  up  18 

on  his  hind  legs  and  began  to  beg.    He  gave  another  impatient  little  "Bow!,"  32 

but  this  time  his  bark  did  not  seem  so  sharp  and  terrifying  to  Bessie,  and  47 

her  fears  began  to  disappear.     "Why,  he's  really  a  cute  little  doggie,"  she  60 

thought,  and  sitting  up,  she  timidly  offered  him  her  bowl.     The  dog  needed  73 

no  second  invitation,  but  eagerly  lapped  the  milk  until  every  drop  was  gone.  |  86 

Bessie  set  the  empty  bowl  down  upon  the  doorstep  and  patted  the  little  |  99 
dog's  head.  He  is  turn  was  equally  friendly,  wagging  his  tail  and  trying  to  j  113 
lick  her  hand.  In  a  few  minutes  more  the  two  were  the  best  of  friends, 


128 
142 
!56 
170 
183 
198 
212 

225 
239 
249 
261 
275 

stopped  by  the  fence.  From  between  the  pickets,  she  could  see  both  the  cat  |  289 
and  the  dog  rapidly  disappearing  down  the  street:  Hot  tears  of  disap-  |  300 
pointment  welled  from  her  eyes.  She  hurried  to  the  gate  and  shook  it;  it  |  314 
was  securely  latched.  Could  she  open  it?  Many  times  before  had  she  |  325 
tried,  but  without  success.  Little  girls  grow,  however,  and  standing  on  the  |  337 
lower  part  of  the  gate,  and  stretching  to  her  utmost,  she  was  just  able  to  |  353 
press  her  little  fingers  against  the  latch.  Click,  and  the  gate  swung  open,  j  366 
Bessie  was  free  to  hurry  down  the  street.  The  cat  and  dog  had  disap-  j  379 
peared  around  the  corner  of  the  next  block.  386 

Name : Grade . . 


racing  about  the  garden  in  a  wild  game  of  tag.  Sometimes  it  was  Bessie, 
laughing  and  screaming,  who  was  chasing  the  dog  this  way  and  that  in  and 
out  among  the  bushes  of  the  garden;  sometimes  it  was  the  dog,  barking  and 
jumping,  who  was  chasing  Bessie.  More  than  once  dog  and  girl  were  so 
much  in  each  other's  way  that  both  fell  down,  rolling  over  and  over  on  the 
soft  grass.  Not  for  a  long  time  had  Bessie  had  such  a  pleasant  playmate. 

They  were  on  the  front  lawn  now,  resting  a  minute  after  a  particularly 
wild  romp.  Suddenly,  through  the  pickets  of  the  fence,  the  dog  spied  a  cat 
crossing  the  street  outside.  Immediately  he  dashed  after  her,  squeezing 
between  the  pickets,  and  running  down  the  street  at  top  speed.  "Here, 
doggie,  doggie,"  the  little  girl  cried,  and  ran  after  her  playfellow,  only  to  be 


THE  INSTRUCTION  MEASURED.  157 


ENGLISH.    NORMAL  READING. 
TEST  NO.  2.    MEMORY  TEST. 


SCORE. 


rime 

No.  Left. 


Right 


Bessie's   (Experiences,  Adventures,  Story,)    Part  B.    .  |    1 

Before  the  (terrified,  frightened,  poor)  little  girl  could  (decide,  think, 
know)  what  to  do,  the  dog  sat  up  on  his  hind  legs  and  began  to  (bark,  tease, 
beg.)  He  gave  another  impatient  little  ("Bow!",  bark,  whine)  but  this  time 
his  bark  did  not  seem  so  (loud,  sharp,  harsh)  and  terrifying  to  Bessie,  and 
her  (fears,  terror,  distress)  began  to  disappear.  "Why,  he's  really  a  (nice, 
cute,  dear)  little  doggie,"  she  thought,  and  sitting  up,  she  (cautiously, 
timidly,  boldly)  offered  him  her  bowl.  The  dog  (wanted,  asked,  needed) 
no  second  invitation,  but  (eagerly,  quickly,  rapidly)  lapped  the  milk  until 


every  drop  was  (swallowed,  eaten,  gone.) 

Bessie  set  the  empty  bowl  down  upon  the  (grass,  doorstep,  ground)  and 
patted  the  little  dog's  (head,  back,  neck.)  He  in  turn  was  (very,  also, 
equally)  friendly,  wagging  his  tail  and  trying  to  (paw,  kiss,  lick)  her  hand. 
In  a  few  minutes  more  the  two  were  the  best  of  (comrades,  friends,  play- 
mates) racing  about  the  (grounds,  lawn,  garden)  in  a  wild  game  of  tag. 
Sometimes  it  was  Bessie,  laughing  and  (screaming,  dancing,  skipping)  who 
was  chasing  the  dog  this  way  and  that  in  and  out  among  the  (trees,  bushes, 
benches)  of  the  garden;  sometimes  it  was  the  dog,  barking  and  (squealing 
jumping,  biting)  who  was  chasing  Bessie.  More  than  once  dog  and  girl 
were  so  much  in  each  other's  way  that  (they,  both,  each)  fell  down,  rolling 
over  and  over  on  the  (soft,  green,  cool)  grass.  Not  for  a  long  time  had 
Bessie  had  such  a  pleasant  (game,  frolic,  playmate.) 

They  were  on  the  (front,  side,  back)  lawn  now,  resting  a  minute  after 
a  particularly  wild  (race,  game,  romp.)  Suddenly,  through  the  pickets  of 
the  fence,  the  dog  (noticed,  saw,  spied)  a  cat  crossing  the  street  outside. 
Immediately  he  (ran,  dashed,  chased)  after  her,  squeezing  between  the 
pickets,  and  running  down  the  street  at  (top,  high,  great)  speed.  "Here, 
doggie,  doggie,"  the  little  girl  cried,  and  ran  after  her  (friend,  playfellow, 
companion)  only  to  be  stopped  by  the  fence.  From  between  the  (pickets 
posts,  palings)  she  could  see  both  the  cat  and  the  dog  (gradually,  rapidly, 
slowly)  disappearing  down  the  street.  Hot  tears  of  (anger,  grief,  disappoint- 
ment) welled  from  her  eyes.  She  (hurried,  ran,  went)  to  the  gate  and 
shook  it;  it  was  (safely,  firmly,  securely)  latched.  Could  she  open  it?  Many 
times  (before,  yesterday,  halfheartedly)  she'  had  tried,  but  without  success. 
Little  girls  grow,  however,  and  (resting,  standing,  stepping)  on  the  lower 
part  of  the  gate,  and  (reaching,  stretching,  pushing)  to  her  utmost,  she  was 
just  able  to  (press,  push,  touch)  her  little  fingers  against  the  latch.  Click 
and  the  gate  (came,  was,  swung)  open.  Bessie  was  (free,  able,  quick)  to 


158 


SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 


While  the  children  were  reading  Test  No.  1,  they  did  not 
know  what  sort  of  test  was  to  follow.  The  two  pages  were  print- 
ed together  on  one  sheet,  but  in  such  a  manner  that  when  read- 
ing one  the  other  was  upside  down.  They  only  knew  that  they 
would  be  tested  on  what  they  had  read.  This  would  naturally 
have  the  effect  of  retarding  their  natural  normal  speed  in 
reading,  and  the  results  of  Test  No.  1  are  therefore  more 
nearly  comparable  with  the  tentative  standard  which  the  auth- 
or of  the  test  has  defined  for  " careful  reading."  This  com- 
bination o'f  the  two  tests  seemed  to  more  nearly  meet  the  needs 
of  the  situation,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  two  members  of  the 
survey  staff  were  to  devote  some  time  to  hearing  reading 
recitations,  to  a  study  of  reading  texts  and  courses  of  study, 
and  to  methods  and  devices  in  use. 

Results  of  the  test.  The  results  of  these  tests  are  shown 
in  the  following  tables  and  diagrams,  and  the  reader  is  at 
liberty  to  try  his  own  rate  of  reading  the  selection  presented 


TABLE  NO.  23. 

SHOWING  THE  NUMBER  OF  WORDS  READ  PER  MIN- 
UTE BY  THE  MEDIAN  CHILD  IN  EACH  CLASS  TESTED. 

(Courtis  Test) 


SCHOOL 


VIII 

|    VII 

1    vi 

•y 

Forest  

213 

230 

206 

224 

Grant  

219 

223 

214 

Hamilton 

225 

219 

159 

Lafayette 

199 

230 

222 

179 

Lincoln  

219 

213 

159 

Lowell  

210 

293 

220 

203 

Onequa  

190 

199 

173 

239 

Oquirrh 

"•90 

213 

210 

203 

Riverside        .    . 

199 

226 

206 

214 

Sumner  

148 

219 

199 

159 

Training 

217 

178 

205 

202 

Wasatch 

287 

215 

246 

167 

Whittier  . 

239 

207 

239 

190 

GRADE 


*The  rate  of  silent  reading  shown  here  was  attained  by  the  chil- 
dren, understanding  that  they  were  later  to  be  tested  on  the  content 
of  what  they  read. 


THE  INSTRUCTION  MEASURED.  159 

above,  in  comparison  with  the  results  here  shown  for  1,624 
children  in  thirteen  schools,  from  grades  five  to  eight  inclu- 
sive. 

Table  No.  23  shows  the  median  number  of  words  read  in 
one  minute  by  the  children  oif1  each  grade  and  school  tested. 
The  range  between  classes  is  from  148  to  287  words  in  grade 
eight,  from  178  to  293  in  grade  seven  from  173  to  246  in  grade 
six,  and  from  159  to  239  in  grade  five.  The  differences  be- 
tween schools  as  a  whole  are  not  specially  marked.  "Whether 
a  foreign  language  in  the  home  increases  the  difficulties  of 
learning  to  read  English  is  perhaps  a  fair  question.  Some 
schools  have  no  children  from  such  homes,  while  others  have  a 
high  percentage  of  such.  Other  factors,  such  as  a  large  per- 
centage of  children  'from  homes  with  no  facilities  for  stimulat- 
ing intellectual  ideals,  etc.,  probably  tend  to  make  slight  dif- 
ferences 'between  community  or  school  records  in  a  reading 
test,  for  very  many  children  learn  more  reading  at  home  than 
they  learn  at  school. 

Variation  between  individuals.  The  variation  between  in- 
dividuals, however,  is  extreme,  as  shown  by  Table  No.  24, 
which  presents  a  complete  distribution  of  the  individual  scores 
by  grades.  This  table  also  shows  the  median  score  for  each 
grade,  and  the  tentative  standard  which  Mr.  Courtis,  the  author 
of  the  tests,  has  established. 

Speed  in  reading  would  to  some  extent  depend  upon  qual- 
ity of  vision.  If,  as  is  shown  in  Chapter  XI  of  this  report, 
15  per  cent  of  the  children  have  defective  vision,  we  could 
expect  the  extreme  cases  from  that  group  to  produce  some  low 
scores.  As  an  illustration  of  the  wide  difference  in  ability  to 
read  rapidly,  which  was  found  to  exist  between  children  in 
the  same  class,  the  records  from  four  rooms  are  shown  in 
Table  No.  25. 

Knowing  what  we  do  of  children's  reaction  time,  it  is  not 
surprising  to  find  these  differences.  It  is  important,  however, 
that  they  should  be  clearly  set  forth  here  for  the  reason  that 
these  very  differences  are  the  basis  of  important  problems  in 


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Training 
Wasatch 

THE  INSTRUCTION  MEASURED. 


161 


method,  promotion  and  grading,  amount  of  reading  to  assign, 
etc.  Referring  to  this  table  again,  let  us  ask  what  the  upper 
ten  children  do  while  the  lower  ten  are  reading  aloud  in  class. 
This  is  concretely  what  is  meant  'by  the  statement  that  these 
differences  constitute  important  teaching  and  organization 
problems.  Just  as  it  is  good  method  for  a  teacher  to  demon- 
strate good  reading  to  her  class,  so  it  is  good  to  relieve  the 
brighter  children  of  the  necessity  of  droning  over  a  passage 
in  the  lesson  while  some  extremely  poor  reader  is  struggling 
through  it  word  by  word.  If  these  ten  children  can  show 
equally  well  in  expression  and  getting  the  meaning  out  of 
what  they  read,  they  should  recite  reading  in  some  higher 
grade,  for  they  certainly  do  not  have  to  study  where  they 

are. 

The  speed  test.     Reference   to  Table  No.   24  with  these 
points  in  mind,  and  a  study  of  Figure  21  will  make  it  plain, 


GRADE  "2ffl 


Fri  f  •  i •  i  i  i 


i   2  ft  *  I  I  I   8  «   < 


READING -SPEED  TEST. 

FIG.  21.     SHOWING  THE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  SCORES  IN 
THE  SPEED  READING  TESTS. 


162 


SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 


that,  so  far  as  speed  is  concerned,  one  could  not  judge  in 
which  grade  any  single  child's  score  might  appear.  It  will  be 
seen  that  there  are  only  seven  children  in  grade  five  whose  scores 
are  below  the  lowest  score  in  grade  eight,  and  there  are  no 
scores  in  grade  eight  which  aire  above  the  best  five  in  grade 
five,  and  by  the  diagram  it  appears  that  all  children,  irrespec- 
tive of  grade,  average  somewhere  near  200  words  per  minute  as 
their  rate  for  rather  careful  reading. 

Salt  Lake  City  compared.  As  compared  with  the  Courtis 
standard  (see  Table  24)  all  grades  rank  high.  The  surprise  is 
that  grade  eight  ranks  between  grade  five  and  six.  For  com- 
parative purposes  Figure  22  is  introduced,  which  indicates  the 

WORDS  PER  M1N. 
400 


300 


£00 


100 


175  CHILDREN  (AFTER  COURTIS) 

SALTLAKECITY,  1G24CHILDREK 

AFTER  COURTIS,  103  CLASS  MEDIAN? 

A  FT  ER  COURTIS,  10GO  CHILDREN 

FIG.  22.    RATE  OF  READING  IN  SALT  LAKE  CITY  COM- 
PARED WITH  TESTS  MADE  IN  OTHER  CITIES. 

rate  at  which  these  passages  have  been  read  by  three  other 
groups  of  children.     The  showing  which  the  Salt  Lake  City 


THE  INSTRUCTION  MEASURED. 


163 


schools  has  made  stands  well  above  these  records,  with  the  ex^ 
ception  of  three  points  at  which  the  small  group  of  175  children 
surpassed  them.  This  would  seem  to  indicate  that  Salt  Lake 
City  ranks  well  in  point  of  speed  in  reading. 

The  memory  test.  As  explained  above  the  second  test  was 
a  check  on  memory  of  what  was  read.  In  this  test  the  same 
wide  variety  of  results  were  found  to  appear,  and  are  shown  in 
Table  No.  26,  both  with  the  median  for  each  grade  and  the  per 
cent  of  the  points  which  were  correctly  checked.  In  the  per 


TABLE  NO.  26. 

SHOWING  THE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  POINTS  READ  AND 

OF  THE  NUMBER  WHICH  WERE  REMEMBERED, 

WITH  THE  MEDIAN,  AND  THE  PER  CENT, 

CORRECT. 
(Courtis  Test) 


GRADE 

Points 

NUMBER  OF  POINTS 

5s 
•-o  g 

E10 

ll 

o>  2 

Q- 

0 
4 

5 
9 

10 
14 

15|  20 
19)  24 

25 
29 
~67 
35 
94 
41 
77 
32 
57 
16 

30 
34 

"29 
11 
59 
15 
20 
18 
32 
2 

|'35 
39 
13 
4 
22 
3 
20 
1 
12 
5 

|40 
ovr 

VIII  

Read 
Right 
Read 
Right 
Read 
Right 
Read 
Right 

1 

3 

2 
7 

2 
5 
1 
13 
3 
19 
5 
57 

14 
49 
14 
58 
23 
85 
32 
101 

67 
122 
66 
152 
86 
146 
112 
133 

121 
78 
145 
104 
135 
94 
126 
60 

12 
2 
11 

31 
3 

22.71 
18.0)79.3 
23.  9| 
17.4(72.8 

22.71 
17.577.1 
20.8 
15.5)74.0 

VII  

VI  

V 

cent  correct  the  eighth  grade  stands  somewhat  above  the  others, 
but  the  seventh  grade  falls  below  the  sixth,  none  averaging  far 
from  three-fourths  correct.  In  Figure  23  the  relation  of  the 
amount  remembered  to  the  amount  read  in  one  minute  is  clearly 
shown.  By  the  solid  line  one  sees  the  number  of  points  read, 
and  by  the  dotted  line  the  number  correctly  checked.  The 


SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 


GRADE  "VTTT 


41     40     31      36     34      J3.      30      ZS     Z(,     24      Z2      ZO      IS       16       14      IS.       IO       f        &        4        Z        O 

FIG.  23.    RELATION  OF  SPEED  TEST  TO  MEMORY  TEST 

IN  READING. 

scale  at  the  bottom  shows  the  number  of  points,  and  the  scale 
on  the  left  indicates  the  number  of  children  attaining  these 
scores.  The  medians  are  marked  by  vertical  lines,  solid  for  the 
number  read,  and  dotted  for  the  number  right.  It  is  regretted 
that  there  are  no  available  data  with  which  to  compare  these 
facts.  They  may  stand,  however,  as  a  valuable  basis  for  later, 
tests  by  teachers  and  supervisors  who  wish  to  measure  progress 
from  time  to  time  in  this  feature  of  reading. 

The  problem  the  schools  must  meet.  The  main  suggestions 
that  grow  out  otf  these  tests  of  reading  are  that,  as  in  the  other 
subjects,  the  real  genius  in  the  schools  is  not  being  instructed 


THE  INSTRUCTION  MEASURED.  165 

under  the  best  conditions.  These  children  should  be  so  class- 
ified that  they  will  need  to  work  up  to  their  full  capacity. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  extremely  slow  pupils  shown  in  these 
tests  should  be  receiving  special  instruction  which  cannot  be 
given  economically  in  the  ordinary  classroom  and  with  the 
regular  class.  Less  emphasis  needs  to  be  placed  upon  school 
grades,  and  more  upon  proper  classification  of  the  individual 
child.  Along  with  the  excellent  standing  which  the  city's 
schools  are  showing  in  these  tests  they  must  bend  their  ener- 
gies to  this  problem  of  refining  the  teaching  adjustments  to 
more  adequately  meet  the  needs  of  individual  children.  So 
far  as  these  tests  go  they  show  this  to  be  an  immediate  and  a 
pressing  problem  in  instruction  and  internal  organization  which 
the  schools  are  now  facing. 

5.    THE  TESTS  IN  ARITHMETIC. 

Arithmetic  in  the  course  of  study.  Arithmetic  is  taught  in 
all  grades,  and  the  course  outlined  seems  in  the  main  in  keep- 
ing with  the  best  thought  on  this  subject.  The  degree  of  im- 
portance which  attaches  to  this  subject  in  the  schools  of  the 
city  is  well  indicated  by  the  amount  of  time  which  is  devoted 
to  it.  The  amount  varies  greatly  between  schools,  and  between 
grades.  Some  classes  are  spending  as  much  as  500  minutes  per 
week  on  the  subject,  wrhile  others  are  spending  but  20  or  30 
minutes.  The  approximate  average  ranges  from  50  minutes  per 
week  in  grade  one  to  290  minutes  for  grade  eight.  Rather  ex- 
tensive investigation  of  this  matter  has  lead  to  the  recom- 
mendation of  the  following  grade  distribution  of  time  for 


TABLE  NO.  26. 

AMOUNT  AND  DISTRIBUTION  OP  TIME  IN  ARITHMETIC. 
Grade  j  1  |  2  |  3  |  4*  |  5  |  6  |  7  |  8  |  Per  cent  " 


Proposed  maxi- 
mum Standard 

75 

I       I       I       I 
100|125|150|150150 

150 
250 

170 
290 

10 

.7 

Salt  Lake  City    ..)  50|100|225|225|250|240 

14 

.3 

166  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

arithmetic,  with  which  that  for  Salt  Lake  City  may  be  com- 
pared :* 

From  this  it  will  be  seen  that  arithmetic  is  receiving  more 
than  its  full  share  of  attention-  in  the  city,  approximately  14.3 
per  cent  of  the  school  time  being  devoted  to  the  subject, 
whereas  this  investigation  supports  argument  for  but  10.7  per 
cent.  It  should  be  added  here  that  another  investigation  has 
shown  that,  of  twenty-six  cities  devoting  from  7  to  22  per  cent, 
of  their  school  time  to  arithmetic,  those  devoting  more  than 
the  median  amount  for  these  twenty-six  cities  ranked  very  little 
higher  in  the  reasoning  test  reported  below  than  did  the  cities 
using  less  than  that  amount.** 

In  interpreting  the  following  results  in  the  tests  this  time 
cost  must  not  'be  overlooked,  even  if  there  are  numerous  cities 
whose  time  allotment  for  arithmetic  is  equally  high. 

The  tests  in  arithmetic  covered  the  four  fundamental  oper- 
ations, and  their  application  in  a  series  of  problems  involving 
a  test  of  the  children's  ability  to  reason.  The  first  are  known 
as  the  'Courtis  Standard  Testsj  and  the  second  as  the  Stone 
reasoning  tests. ft 

How  the  Arithmetic  was  tested.  The  following  instruc- 
tions, followed  by  typical  examples,  illustrate  the  nature  of 
the  tests  in  addition,  substraction,  multiplication  and  division. 


*The  distribution  recommended  is  based  on  the  median  recitation 
time  expenditure  in  630  cities.  W.  A.  Jessup:  The  Fourteenth  Year 
Book  of  the  National  Society  for  the  Study  of  Education,  Ch.  VIII.  (1915.) 

**Stone,  C.  W.  Arithmetical  Abilities  and  Some  Factors  Determin- 
ing Them.  Teachers'  College,  Publications,  N.  Y.,  1908. 


fCourtis,    S.   A.      Standard   Tests.      82   Eliot   St.,   Detroit,   Mich. 
ttStone,  C.  W.  Arithmetical  Abilities  and  Some  Factors  Determining 
Them. 


THE  INSTRUCTION  MEASURED.  167 

ARITHMETIC.    FOUR  FUNDAMENTAL  OPERATIONS. 

(The  following  are  selected  examples  of  the  problems  given  the  chil- 
dren to  solve  in  the  assigned  time.  Four  printed  pages,  one  for  esteh 
of  the  fundamental  operations,  were  used.  The  problems  have  been  so 
arranged  that  each  presents  equal  difficulty.  ) 

You  will  be  given  eight  minutes  to  find  the  answers  to  as  many 
of  these  addition  examples  as  possible.  Write  the  answers  on  this 
paper  directly  underneath  the  examples.  You  are  not  expected  to  be 
able  to  do  them  all.  You  will  be  marked  for  both  speed  and  accuracy, 
but  it  is  more  important  to  have  your  answers  right  than  to  try  a 
great  many  examples. 

927  297  136  486  384  176  277  837 

379  925  340  765  477  783  445  882 

756  473  988  524  881  697  682  959 

837  983  386  140  266  200  594  603 

924  315  353  812  679  366  481  118 

110  661  904  466  241  851  778  781 

854  794  547  355  796  535  849  756 

965  177  192  834  850  323  157  222 

344  124  439  567  733  229  953  525 


You  will  be  given  four  minutes  to  find  the  answers  to  as  many 
of  these  subtraction  examples  as  possible.  Write  the  answers  on  this 
paper  directly  underneath  the  examples.  You  are  not  expected  to  be 
able  to  do  them  all.  You  will  be  marked  for  both  speed  and  accuracy, 
but  it  is  more  important  to  have  your  answers  right  than  to  try  a 
great  many  examples. 

115364741  67298125  92057352  113380936 

80195261  29346861  42689037  42556840 


You  will  be  given  six  minutes  to  work  as  many  of  these  multiplica- 
tion examples  as  possible.  You  are  not  expected  to  be  able  to  do  them 
all.  Do  your  work  directly  on  this  paper;  use  no  other.  You  will  be 
marked  for  both  speed  and  accuracy,  but  it  is  more  important  to  have 
your  answers  right  than  to  try  a  great  many  examples. 

8246  3597  5739  2648  9537 

29  73  85  46  92 


You  will  be  given  eight  minutes  to  work  as  many  of  these  division 
examples  as  possible.  You  are  not  expected  to  be  able  to  do  them  all. 
Do  your  work  directly  on  this  paper;  use  no  other.  You  will  be 
marked  for  both  speed  and  accuracy,  but  it  is  more  important  to  have 
your  answers  right  than  to  try  a  great  many  examples. 


25)6775  94)85352  37)9990  86)80066 

(On  the  following  page  is  a  reduced  reproduction  of  the  sheet 
given  each  pupil  for  the  reasoning  test.  The  use  of  scratch  paper 
was  permitted,  and  the  results  were  entered  after  each  problem  on 
this  sheet. 


168 


SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 


ARITHMETIC.     REASONING  TESTS. 
School i Grade. ....  .Name  of  Pupil 


PROBLEMS. 


10 


11 


12 


Solve  as  many  of  the  following  problems  as  you 
have  time  for;    work  them  in  order  as  numbered: 

If  you  buy  2  tablets  at  7  cents  each  and  a  book 
for  65  cents,  how  much  change  should  you  receive 
from  a  two-dollar  bill? 

John  sold  4  Saturday  Evening  Posts  at  5  cents 
each.  He  kept  y2  the  money  and  with  the  other 
V2  he  bought  Sunday  papers  at  2  cents  each.  How 
many  did  he  buy? 

If  James  had  4  times  as  much  money  as 
George,  he  would  have  $16.  How  much  money  has 
George? 

How  many  pencils  can  you  buy  for  50  cents  at 
the  rate  of  2  for  5  cents? 

The  uniforms  for  a  baseball  nine  cost  $2.50 
each.  The  shoes  cost  $2  a  pair.  What  was  the 
total  cost  of  uniforms  and  shoes  for  the  nine? 

In  the  schools  of  a  certain  city  there  are  2,200 
pupils;  y2  are  in  the  primary  grades,  %  in  the 
grammar  grades,  %  in  the  High  School  and  the 
rest  in  the  night  school.  How  many  pupils  are 
there  in  the  night  school? 

If  3V2  tons  of  coal  cost  $21,  what  will  5V2 
tons  cost? 

A  newsdealer  bought  some  magazines  for  $1. 
He  sold  them  for  $1.20,  gaining  5  cents  on  each 
magazine.  How  many  magazines  were  there? 

A  girl  spent  %  of  her  money  for  car  fare,  and 
three  times  as  much  for  clothes.  Half  of  what  she 
had  left  was  80  cents.  How  much  money  did  she 
have  at  first? 

Two  girls  receive  $2.10  for  making  button- 
holes. One  makes  42,  the  other  28.  How  shall 
they  divide  the  money. 

Mr.  Brown  paid  one-third  of  the  cost  of  a 
building;  Mr.  Johnson  paid  %  the  cost.  Mr.  John- 
son received  $500  more  annual  rent  than  Mr. 
Brown.  How  much  did  each  receive? 

A  freight  train  left  Albany  for  New  York  at 
6  o'clock.  An  express  left  on  the  same  track  at  8 
o'clock.  It  went  at  the  rate  of  40  miles  an  hour. 
At  what  time  of  day  will  it  overtake  the  freight 
train  if  the  freight  train  stops  after  it  has  gone  56 
miles? 


Total  Score  Made  by  Pupil. 


Directions  to  Teacher: 

1.  Cross  off  the  problem  value  for  each  problem  not  correctly 
solved  or  not  attempted  by  the  pupil  named,  and  then  add  up  the 
remainder.  This  will  give  the  score  earned  by  this  pupil. 


THE  INSTRUCTION  MEASURED.  169 

There  were  more  examples  in  each  of  the  four  sets  than 
any  child  would  be  likely  to  work  in  the  time  allowed,  which, 
was  8  minutes  each  for  addition  and  division,  four  minutes 
for  subtraction,  and  six  minutes  for  multiplication.  The  ex- 
amples were  all  printed,  and  the  necessary  oral  explanations 
were  made  by  the  member  of  the  survey  in  charge,  who  timed 
the  classes  and  instructed  teachers  how  to  score  the  results. 

The  same  schools  and  classes  as  were  used  in  the  other 
tests  were  used  for  all  the  arithmetic  tests. 

The  reasoning  test  was  presented  to  the  child  in  the  form 
printed  on  page  168.  On  the  left  are  the  values  assigned  to 
the  problems,  each  o'f  which  has  been  carefully  standardized 
for  testing  purposes,  and  the  values  assigned  represent  the 
relative  difficulties  of  the  different  problems. 

Results  of  tests  in  the  fundamentals.  The  tables  and  dia- 
grams given  on  the  pages  which  follow  will  show  the  results  of 
the  tests,  first  presenting  those  for  the  fundamentals,  and  later 
those  for  reasoning. 

Table  No.  28  shows  the  full  distribution  of  scores,  by 
grades,  'for  each  of  the  subjects,  and  with  the  median  score 
attained  in  each  case.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  same  wide 
range  of  abilities  as  was  shown  in  the  other  tests  appears  here 
also,  and  in  each  grade.  The  nature  and  extent  of  this  dis- 
tribution is  clearly  brought  out  in  Figure  24,  which  shows  on 
each  section  the  median  score  attained  by  each  grade. 

It  appears  that  the  median  child  in  the  seventh  grade  is 
not  as  far  ahead  of  the  median  child  in  the  sixth  as  is  the  sixth 
grade  child  ahead  of  the  fifth,  or  the  eighth  ahead  of  the  sev- 
enth. In  the  matter  of  accuracy,  which  will  be  discussed  later, 
this  difference  does  not  appear. 

From  this  test,  the  average,  or  median  child  in  the  Salt  Lake 
City  schools  may  be  expected  to  work  examples  in  the  funda- 
mentals, such  as  those  used,  at  the  following  rates  (using  8 
minutes  in  addition,  4  minutes  in  subtraction,  6  minutes  in  mul- 
tiplication, and  8  minutes  in  division)  : 

If  in  grade  5,  he  can  add  4.1  examples,  subtract  5.2,  mul- 
tiply 4.3  and  divide  3.0. 


170 


SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 


TABLE  NO.  28. 

'Showing  the  distribution  of  children  with  respect  to  the 
number  of  examples  finished.    (Courtis'  Standard  Test.) 

ADDITION  (Time  8  minutes) 


Grade 

Total 
Papers 

NUMBER   OF   EXAMPLES   WORKED 

Median 
Score 

0    1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  21  22  23  24 

VIII 

350 

4  14  18  27  37  45  47  27  38  37  18  17    8    1    7    2    2    1 

8.8 

VII 

447 

5    9  22  38  36  44  45  66  59  31  39  21  13    6    6    2    2    1     1          1 

6.9 

VI 

416 

13  24  36  32  57  39  60  38  32  28  22  13    9    9    1    1     I          1 

6.4 

V 

460 

24  31  60  78  66  66  47  32  21  16  10    2    4     1          1          1 

4.1 

SUBTRACTION   (Time  4  minutes) 


Grade 

Total 
Papers 

NUMBER   OF    EXAMPLES  WORKED 

Median 
Score 

0    1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  21  22  23  24 

VIII 

351 

3    4    4  11  27  33  36  44  50  32  26  18  14  10  17    7    7    3          13          1 

9.8 

VII 

437 

4          8    6  19  27  40  46  52  53  63  42  30  15    8    5  10    3    2    -     21          1 

8.8 

VI 

423 

4    8  13  17  36  43  46  56  61  43  29  30  23    7     1          33 

7.8 

V 

460 

8  19  38  54  57  75  64  41  33  33  19  11    3    2    1          1                   1 

5.2 

MULTIPLICATION    (Time  6  minutes) 


Grade 

Toial 
Papers 

NUMBER   OF   EXAMPLES   WORKED 

Median 
Score 

0    1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  21  22  23  24 

VIII 

353 

1     1    4    3  11  29  38  59  37  42  33  29  24    7  11  11    7     1    2    1               2 

8.3 

VII 

443 

,  1    7  19  22  31  50  59  59  69  47  37  20  11    2    5    2          2 

7.1 

VI 

412 

10    9  20  51  54  76  68  30  40  20  17  10    5    1          1 

5.3 

V 

458 

10  18  50  77  102  83  53  26  16  16    3    3          1 

4.3 

DIVISION    (Time  8  minutes) 


Grade 

Total 
Papers 

NUMBER   OF   EXAMPLES   WORKED 

Median 
Score 

0    1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  21  22  23  24 

VIII 

3.'2 

2    1    2    3  17  19  26  37  33  38  31  36  41  19  11  15    6    4    54    1                1 

9.5 

VII 

450 

4  14  16  26  30  43  37  40  45  44  40  26  36  21  10    6    4    3    2    1     2 

7.7 

VI 

422 

10  23  30  45  49  52  49  44  32  33  18  13  14    7    1     1     1 

5.5 

V 

457 

42  72  78  81  79  45  29  20    6    2    2               1 

3.0 

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2=  I    i    i    I    i    I    I 


I    I     I     I     I    I     I    I     I    I     I     I 


172  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

If  in  grade  6,  he  can  add  6.4  examples,  subtract  7.8,  mul- 
tiply 5.3,  and  divide  5.5. 

If  in  grade  7,  he  can  add  6.9  examples,  subtract  8.8,  mul- 
tiply 7.1,  and  divide  7.7. 

If  in  grade  8,  he  can  add  8.8  examples,  subtract  9.8,  mul- 
tiply 8.3,  and  divide  9.5. 

Widely  different  results  in  different  schools.  The  full 
details  of  this  is  shown,  for  the  fourteen  schools  tested,  by 
Table  No.  29,  which  gives  the  score  of  the  median  child  in  each 
grade  and  in  each  subject,  combining  them  for  the  city  as  a 
whole  at  the  bottom  of  the  table. 

From  this  table  it  appears  that  there  is  a  wide  difference 
between  schools.  In  addition  we  find  a  range  in  grade  five  of 
from  2.8  to  6.5 ;  in  grade  six  from  2.5  to  9.3 ;  in  grade  seven 
from  3.7  <to  9.9 ;  and  in  grade  eight  from  5.3  to  10.0.  In  the 
other  subjects  the  range  is  approximately  the  same.  It  is  in- 
teresting to  add  that  in  three  of  the  four  grades  taking  the 
addition  test,  those  classes  which  made  the  highest  standing 
are  using  exactly  the  same  number  of  minutes  per  week  on 
arithmetic  as  are  the  classes  which  made  the  lowest  stand- 
ing. 

If  the  amount  of  time  used  on  the  subject  does  not  ac- 
count for  the  wide  differences  which  this  table  reveals,  and 
apparently  it  does  not,  then  this  would  seem  to  be  a  condi- 
tion worthy  of  study  by  principals  and  supervisors.  Just 
what  ought  to  be  accomplished  in  a  given  grade,  with  a  given 
time  allotment,  is  a  question  which  can  well  be  raised  in  con- 
nection with  each  o'f  the  subjects  presented  in  this  chapter. 
Every  city  system  of  schools  should  have  standards  of  its  own 
for  every  subject,  which  each  school  should  strive  to  approx- 
imate. These  standards  need  not  be  identical  with  those  in 
other  cities,  but  should  be  determined  by  the  relative  im- 
portance of  the  different  subjects  for  its  own  community. 
The  same  principle  will  justify  slight  variations  in  those 
standards  for  different  schools,  as  they  represent  varying 
types  of  community  life  within  a  city.  But  this  table  reveals 


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174 


SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 


extremely  wide  differences,  which  conditions  in  Salt  Lake 
City  do  not  seem  to  warrant.  A  reasonable  uniformity  in  re- 
sults is  as  desirable  as  is  a  wholesome  lack  of  uniformity  in 
methods  of  getting  those  results. 

Comparison  with  other  cities.  To  measure  the  results 
achieved  in  Salt  Lake  City  with  similar  results  attained  in 
other  cities,  Table  No.  30  is  presented.  Here  the  relative  stand- 
ing of  Detroit,  Boston,  a  group  of  smaller  cities,  called  "other 
cities,"  Butte,  and  Salt  Lake  City,  are  placed  side  by  side 
for  each  of  the  four  subjects.  These  results  are  absolutely 


TABLE  NO.  30. 

THE  STANDING  OF  SALT  LAKE  CITY  IN  THE  FUNDA- 
MENTALS OF  ARITHMETIC  AS   COMPARED   WITH 
OTHER    CITIES,    JUDGED    BY    THE    MEDIAN 
SCORE  ATTAINED  BY  EACH  GRADE. 


ADDITION 


MULTIPLICATION 


v 

VI 

VII  | 

VIII 

V 

VI 

VII, 

VIII 

3.9 
3.7 
3.9 
2.9 
4.1 

4.6 
4.9 
4.4 
3.4 
6.4 

5.4 
5.6 
4.7 
3.8 
6.9 

6.7 
7.8 
5.6 
5.3 
8.5 

Detroit 
Boston 
Other  Cities 
Butte 
Salt    Lake    City 

3.8 
3.3 
2.6 
4.1 
4.3 

4.8 
4.8 
4.5 
5.0 
5.3 

6.0 
5.1 
5.2 
6.5 
7.1 

7.5 
6.5 
6.4 
8.1 
8.3 

SUBTRACTION 


DIVISION 


5.5 

6.2 

7.,'} 

9.5 

Detroit                 |  2.7 

4.4 

7.1  |  8.8 

4.9 

6.3 

6.9 

8.6 

Boston                 |  2.0 

3.3 

5.1  [  6.9 

4.5 

6.1 

7.8 

8.4 

Other   Cities           i  2.3 

4.3 

5.8  I  6.3 

2.9 

3.4 

3.8 

5.3 

Butte                 !  3.6 

4.3 

7.2  110.2 

5.2 

7.8 

8.8 

9.8 

Salt  Lake  City         |  3.0 

5.5  |  7.7  |  9.5 

comparable,  and  show  the  Salt  Lake  'City  schools  to  stand  well 
ahead  in  all  grades  in  addition  and  multiplication,  in  two 
grades  in  subtraction,  and  in  two  grades  in  division.  Nowhere 
are  the  Salt  Lake  City  schools  more  than  .7  of  one  score  behind 
the  best.  Figure  25  presents  this  data  graphically,  and  by  fol- 
lowing the  dotted  line  across  from  each  of  the  grades  it  will  be 
seen  that  in  many  cases  Salt  Lake  City  is  from  one-half  to  a  full 
grade  ahead  of  other  cities,  rarely  being  surpassed  by  any  ex- 
cept Butte.  This  is  perhaps  an  enviable  record,  but  it  must 


DETROIT  QO?1"" 


SflLT  LAKE  CfTY 


176  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

it- 
'll ot  be  forgotten  that  the  above  reference  to  individual,  class, 
and  school  records  leaves  much  to  accomplish  by  way  of  finer 
internal  organization  and  more  careful  individualized  instruc- 
tion. 

Accuracy  in  use  of  number  combinations.  The  above  has 
dealt  only  with  examples  correctly  worked,  and  does  not  show 
how  many  were  attempted,  or  for  which  incorrect  answers 
were  given ;  that  is,  how  dependable  the  figuring-  of  the  chil- 
dren really  is.  A  typical  illustration  of  the  distribution  of 
attempts  is  shown  in  Table  No.  31,  which  gives  the  number 
of  addition  examples  attempted  by  each  grade,  the  median 
number  attempted,  and  finally  the  per  cent  which  the  median 
number  correctly  worked  is  of  the  median  number  attempted. 
That  is,  the  per  cent  of  accuracy. 


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178 


SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 


In  the  matter  of  accuracy  thus  measured,  Table  No.  32 
compares  the  schools  of  Salt  Lake  City  with  those  of  Boton,  De- 
troit and  twenty  cities  in  Indiana  recently  tested.  The  median 


TABLE  NO.  32. 

SHOWING  THE  MEDIAN  NUMBER  OF  EXAMPLES  TRIED 

AND  THE  MEDIAN  NUMBER  CORRECTLY  WORKED 

IN  THE  SALT  LAKE  CITY  SCHOOLS,  AND  THE  PER 

CENT  OF  EXAMPLES    TRIED    WHICH    WERE 

CORRECTLY  WORKED  IN  SALT  LAKE  CITY 

AS   COMPARED  WITH  OTHER  CITIES. 


Subject       Grade 

Salt  Lake  City 
Median 

Per  Cent  of  Examples  Correct  Worked 

Attempts 

Rights 

Salt  Lake 
City 

Boston 

Detroit 

20  Ind. 
Cities* 

VIII 
Addition          VII 
VI 
V 

9.9 
9.1 
7.9 
6.9 

8.5 
6.9 
6.4 
4.1 

88.8 
75.8 
81.0 
56.9 

70.9 

60.8 
59.0 
51.4 

65.7 
59.8 
54.7 
58.2 

56.8 
60.5 
59.4 
54.5 

VIII 
Subtraction     VII 
VI 
V 

11.8 
10.1 

8.5 
7.5 

9.8 
8.8 
7.8 
5.2 
~873~ 
7.1 
5.3 
4.3 

83.1 
87.1 
91.7 
69.3 

75.4 
69.0 
70.0 
64.4 

77.2 
74.5 
70.4 
68.7 

68.5 
73.0 
76.4 
79.5 

VIII 
Multiplication  VII 
VI 
V 

10.8 
8.6 

7.7 
6.6 

76.8 
82.5 
66.8 
65.1 

68.4 
63.8 
69.5 
56.8 

71.4 
62.5 
64.8 
59.3 

61.9 
67.1 
68.6 
71.5 

VIII 
Division           VII 
VI 
V 

10.3 

8.7 
6.7 
4.4 

9.5 

7.7 
5.5 
3.0 

92.2 

88.5 
82.1 
68.2 

77.1 
73.9 
56.9 
44.4 

55.1 

68.7 
82.5 
85.4 

57.8 
84.2 
78.8 
85.8 

"Indiana  University  Bulletin,  Vol.  XII,  No.  18,  Mar.,  1915. 
These  figures  represent  the  record  attained  by  the  median  city  of 
the  twenty  cities  studied.  A  co-operative  study,  directed  by  Prof.  M. 
E.  Haggerty. 

attempts  and  median  rights  are  shown  for  Salt  Lake  City, 
the  rights  being  divided  by  the  attempts  to  ascertain  the  per 
cent  of  accuracy.  Here  again  Salt  Lake  City  stands  high.  In 
accuracy  the  city  is  surpassed  in  but  one  grade  out  of  the  four 
tested;  in  subtraction  in  but  one  grade;  in<  multiplication,  by 
two  grades;  and  in  division  by  two.  The  seventh  and  eighth 
grades  are  not  surpassed  in  any  case. 


THE  INSTRUCTION  MEASURED. 


179 


A  graphic  illustration,  fully  typical  of  the  results  in  this 
table,  is  shown  in  Figure  26,  where  Salt  Lake  City  is  compared 
with  Detroit,  and  the  twenty  Indiana  cities  in  respect  to  ac- 
curacy in  addition. 


7 

/o 


DETROIT        SALT  LAKE          20  CITIES 
CITY  IN  INDIANA 

FIG.  26.     RELATIVE  ACCURACY  IN  ADDITION. 

It  is  clear  then  that  Salt  Lake  City,  as  compared  with 
other  cities,  is  achieving  nothing  short  of  excellent  results  in 
the  fundamentals  of  arithmetic,  and  that  not  only  with  re- 
spect to  the  number  of  examples  worked  in  a  given  amount 
of  time,  that  is,  speed,  but  also  in  respect  to  the  degree  of  ac- 
curacy with  which  this  work  is  done. 

The  reasoning1  test.  Where  reasoning  is  involved,  the 
test  is  not  only  one  of  correct  use  of  number  combinations, 
but  also  one  of  analyzing  simple  arithmetical  problems.  In 
this  test  the  children  of  Salt  Lake  City  again  rank  high.  The 


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FIG.   27.     DISTRIBUTION  OF  RESULTS  IN  THE   STONE 
"RTCASONTNtt 


182  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

distribution  of  individual  scores  are  set  forth  in  Table  No.  33 
which  shows  also  the  achievement  for  the  median  child  of  each 
grade.  These  facts  are  presented  graphically  in  Figure  27. 

Here  the  same  wide  variability  as  has  appeared  in  other 
tests  is  again  evident.  In  grade  five  there  were  fifteen  chil- 
dren who  could  not  solve  one  of  the  seventeen  problems  set 
for  the  test,  while  more  than  sixty  children  solved  seven  or 
more.  In  grades  seven  and  eight  the  distribution  is  still  wider. 
In  order  to  show  that  this  is  fully  typical  of  the  condition 
existing  in  almost  every  individual  class,  Table  No.  33,  pre- 
senting the  exact  scores  made  by  one  class  from  each  grade  is 
given. 

On  the  basis  of  these  facts  we  must  again  ask :  How 
can  a  lesson*  be  assigned  to  such  classes  so  that,  on  the  one 
hand  it  is  not  so  difficult  as  to  'be  impossible  for  the  children 
at  one  extreme  of  this  table,  or  on  the  other  hand  so  easy  as 
to  'be  a  mere  bore  to  the  children  at  the  other  extreme.  Here 
it  is  not  a  question  of  high  average  results,  for  these  are  high 
enough;  it  is  one  of  refining  organization  and  instruction  to 
the  end  that  children  of  extremely  high  and  extremely  low 
abilities  will  not  constitute  handicaps  for  each  other. 

The  improvement  from  grade  to  grade,  as  is  shown  in 
Figure  27,  seems  all  that  could  be  desired,  and  Table  No.  35 
shows,  with  some  exceptions  in  grade  five,  a  fair  degree  of 
uniformity  of  results  between  schools. 

These  facts  seem  to  argue  that  the  schools  have  a  clear 
notion  of  what  is  to  be  attained  by  each  grade,  but  that  they 
are  getting  results  only  in  terms  of  class  averages  and  at  the 
expense  of  right  class  room  conditions.  By  giving  attention 
to  these  inner  details  'Salt  Lake  City  can  raise  the  excellent 
standards  she  has  already  achieved. 

Comparison  with  other  cities  in  reasoning  test.  The  au- 
thor of  this  reasoning  test  has  presented  the  records  made  by 
the  sixth  grade  in  twenty-six  different  cities.  Add  to  these 
the  records  of  Bridgeport,  Conn.,  Springfield,  111.,  and  Salt 
Lake  City,  and  Salt  Lake  €ity  stands  9th  from  the  top  of  the 


THE  INSTRUCTION  MEASURED. 


183 


TABLE  NO.  35. 

SHOWING  THE  AVERAGE  SCORE  ATTAINED  BY  CLASS- 
ES IN  THE  VARIOUS  SCHOOLS  IN  THE  REASON- 
INGJTEST  IN  ARITHMETIC. 

(Stone  Test). 


School 

GRADE 

VIII 

VII      |       VI       |        V 

Total  for  City 

10.5 
9.3 

11.7 

10.6 
9.1 

9.7 
9.0 

10.2 
14.5 

8.6 

10.6 
7.7 
8.2 
8.3 
10.8 
8.6 
9.5 
8.9 
7.6 
10.0 
7.8 
8.0 
10.4 

6.4 
6.6 
7.4 
5.4 
6.5 
4.1 
7.4 
6.2 
7.6 
5.3 
6.2 
4.8 
7.2 
5.9 
7.0 

3.7 
2.9 
4.6 
4.6 
4.0 
2.2 
4.8 
3.2 
4.6 
3.3 
4.4 
4.4 
3.4 
4.1 
5.5 

Forest  

Grant  

Hamilton    

Lafayette 

Lincoln 

Lowell  .                .            .        

Onequa  

Oquirrh  

Riverside 

Sumner                                          .    .  . 

Training  .                   

Wasatch  

Webster 

Whittier  . 

list.  The  highest  score,  based  on  the  score  per  each  100  pupils, 
attained  by  any  one  of  these  twenty-nine  cities  was  914;  the 
lowest  was  356.  That  for  Salt  Lake  City  was  646. 

As  compared,  grade  by  grade,  with  the  results  in  Butte, 
Salt  Lake  City's  median  fifth  grade  child  can  solve  1.5  more 
problems  of  this  test  than  can  the  median  fifth  grade  child  of 
Butte;  the  sixth  grade  child  of  Salt  Lake  City  can  solve  2.5 
more;  the  seventh  grade  child  2.8  more,  and  the  eighth  grade 
child  2.8  more. 

From  these  results  it  is  clear  that  the  schools  of  this  city 
rank  high  in  the  ability  of  their  children  to  reason.  It  is  also 
true,  as  stated  above,  that  the  present  problem  is  one  of  perfect- 
ing the  details  of  class  organization  and  instruction. 


184  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

6.    SUMMARY  AND  RECOMMENDATION. 

This  chapter  has  not  dealt  with  the  quality  of  instruction  in 
general,  but  only  as  quality  has  been  revealed  by  actual  results, 
stated  in  terms  of  standardized  tests.  It  is  therefore  concerned 
with  the  causes  of  poor  or  excellent  quality,  only  as  the  data 
with  which  it  deals  makes  these  causes  evident. 

Conclusions.  In  so  far  as  the  results  found  have  shown 
that  the  schools  are  controlling,  with  good  effect,  those  main 
factors  which  were  enumerated  at  the  outset  of  the  chapter 
as  being  principally  responsible  for  the  quality  of  instruction, 
those  results  have  been  commended.  On  the  other  hand,  where 
the  schools  are  clearly  not  exercising  such  control,  the  nature 
of  such  failure  has  been  pointed  out,  and  the  responsibility 
placed.  It  is  only  necessary  to  summarize  the  findings  here, 
and  to  further  emphasize  the  lines  along  which  improvements 
and  further  progress  should  be  sought. 

1.  It  should  first  of  all  be  said  that  Salt  Lake  City  ranks 
high  among  cities  of  her  class,  in  each  of  the  five  studies  in 
which  tests  were  given.     The  comparison  being  made  in  terms 
of  average  attainment. 

2.  In  spelling,  so  large  a  percentage  of  children  made  a 
perfect  score  that  full  interpretation  of  the  results  is  difficult. 
The  city's  average  standing  being  16  per  cent  above  the  stan- 
dard. 

3.  In  spelling,  language,  writing,  and  in  the  fundamen- 
tals of  arithmetic,  wide  differences  exist  between  the  results 
shown  for  different  schools.     Foreign  languages  at  home  may 
partly  account  for  such  differences,  particularly  in  composi- 
tion.     There  is  a  limit,  though,  to  which  even  such   causes 
should  be  permitted  to  modify  the  school  standards.     If  a  child 
is  doing  fifth  grade  language  work  he  should  not  ordinarily  be 
classed  as  an  eighth  grade  pupil. 

4.  The  differences  between  grades  are,  with  few  excep- 
tions, approximately  what  they  should  be. 

5.  The  range  of  abilities  in  any  given  grade  is  entirely  too 
great,  as  judged  by  all  o'f  the  five  tests. 


THE  INSTRUCTION  MEASURED.  185 

6.  Similarly  the  range  of  abilities  within  a  given  class, 
again-  in  all  subjects  tested,  is  far  too  great. 

7.  At  least  one-fourth  more  time  is  being  given  to  spelling 
and  more  than  one-fourth  more  to  arithmetic  than  is  justified 
in  the  light  of  the  best  knowledge  on  the  subject. 

Recommendations.     With  these  facts  before  us  the  follow- 
ing recommendations  are  made : 

1.  'Spelling  should  not  have  more  than  60  to  75  minutes 
per  week,  and  arithmetic  from  75  minutes  in  grade  two,  to  200 
minutes  in  grade  eight.     A  part  of  the  surplus  time  from  these 
two  branches  should  be  given  to  language  work,  and  part  to 
other  parts  of  the  curriculum  than  the  subjects  dealt  with  here. 

2.  The  only  economical  and  pedagogical  way  of  meeting 
the  needs  of  the  extremely  dull  and  extremely  bright  pupils 
(perhaps  from  four  to  ten  per  cent  of  each  class  tested)   is 
by  a  much  larger  use  of  ungraded  rooms  to  which  the  most 
skillful  teachers  should  be  assigned.     It  would  be  easy  for  all 
the  larger  schools  of  the  city  to  find  from  25  to  50  children 
who  ought  for  their  own  sakes,  and  for  the  sakes  of  other 
children  as  well,  to  be  placed  in  such  rooms.    This  would  pro- 
vide an  inestimable  relief  in  all  class  work  in  the  school.    This 
is  the  most  evident   and  the  most  important  need  which  is 
brought  to  light  by  these  tests. 

3.  The  best  and  most  constant  supervision  of  this  work  is 
needed  to  work  out  necessary  readjustments.     It  should  be 
added  that,  so  long  as  the  grade  lines  are  :stiffly  maintained  as 
the  only  basis  for  the  classification  of  children,  part  of  the  value 
of  expert  supervision  is  nullified. 

4.  In  addition  to  this,  promotion  by  subjects  ought  to  be 
a  possibility  more  frequently  made  use  of.      "When  a  fourth 
grade   child  can  read  as  well  as  a  seventh  grade  child,  he 
ought  not  to  be  kept  in  the  fourth  grade  for  reading  just  be- 
cause he  cannot  leave  his  fourth  grade  arithmetic. 

5.  Briefly,  what  the  schools  have  achieved  in  general,  they 
should  now  set  themselves  to  achieve  in  particular. 


186  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

The  use  of  standardized  tests.  A  final  word  may  be  said 
about  the  use  of  standard  tests.  First,  we  desire  to  commend 
the  use  the  supervisors  and  principals  have  been  making  of 
these  modern  educational  tools.  Teachers  should  become  famil- 
iar with  such  scales  and  tests  as  have  been  used  here,  not  with 
how  they  were  made,  but  with  how  to  use  them.  The  teacher 
who  is  able  to  measure  her  own  product,  or  to  have  it  measured 
by  the  supervisor,  will  develop  confidence  in  her  methods  or 
discover  reasons  for  changing  them. 

As  an  instrument  in  supervision,  tests  are  indispensable. 
Of  course  testing  can  never  displace  constructive  helpful  crit- 
icism, but  standardized  tests  furnish  a  rational  basis  for  such 
criticism,  without  which  the  best  supervision  is  handicapped. 
So  far  as  was  observed  they  are  being  properly  used  by  the 
principals  and  supervisors,  but  they  may  even  go  further  in 
displacing  the  ordinary  form  of  school  examination. 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  CHILDREN.  187 

CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  PROGRESS  OF  CHILDREN  THROUGH  THE  SCHOOLS. 

(Williams.) 

Importance  of  proper  school  progress.  A  problem  which 
is  of  increasing  importance  in  education  today  is  that  of  school 
progress.  Since  the  welfare  of  the  individual  child  is  the  aim 
toward  which  every  good  school  system  works,  the  recognition 
and  analysis  of  the  differences  among  children  calls  for  much 
greater  attention  than  is  usually  given.  Children  are  ordi- 
narily expected  to  enter  the  first  grade  of  the  elementary 
school  at  the  age  of  six,  and  to  complete  the  eighth  grade  dur- 
ing their  fourteenth  year.  Those  who  accomplish  this  are 
said  to  have  made  normal  progress.  It  is  for  these,  who  con- 
stitute the  majority  of  our  school  children,  that  the  course  of 
study  and  the  system  of  grading  are  best  adapted. 

Those  who  complete  the  eighth  grade  in  less  than  eight 
years  after  entering,  or  whose  age  at  any  time  during  that 
period  is  less  than  that  of  the  child  whose  progress  is  normal, 
are  said  to  be  accelerated. 

There  is  still  another  group  of  children,  who  require  more 
than  eight  years  to  finish  the  elementary  school,  or  whose  age 
at  some  time  is  greater  than  that  of  the  normal  child.  These 
are  said  to  be  retarded. 

Age  and  grade  distribution.  Statistics  were  collected  in 
regard  to  the  ages  and  grades  of  all  the  children  in  the  public 
schools  of  Salt  Lake  City  on  the  tenth  day  of  May,  1915.  The 
results  have  been  tabulated,  and  are  shown  in  Table  No.  36. 
The  number  of  children  of  each  half-year  of  age,  and  in  each 
half-grade  are  given,  and  the  heavy-faced  figures  running 
diagonally  through  the  center  of  the  table  indicate  the  number 
of  children  who  are  normal  for  each  age  and  grade.  For  exam- 
ple, this  includes  those  in  the  first  grade  who  are  between  the 


1= 


Si  S| 


3(3|SI9I 


d  (     t~f     CO  I     .-If     rH 


LO.OO  s^pr^j 


si  s  §iai  si  5; 


5  Jg 


oo     cor  1-1 


*]»l| 


s  s 


CM  ir-.  i   »-i  i 


*    55    SIS  S5|  |    S 


S   §81 


i-H     CO     LO        COI     051     •*!     CO 
-*     CO     LO        T-J       t-       CO       r-i 


giSIS    S 

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U8JJE3    I   "I 


AGES  IN  YEARS 
AND  MONTHS 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  CHILDREN 


189 


ages  of  six  and  one-half  and  eight  years.*  All  of  those  falling 
below  this  normal  line  are  "over  age,"  and  may  be  considered 
retarded;  those  above  the  normal  line  are  accelerated. 

The  percentages  of  children  of  each  of  these  groups,  and 
by  grades,  are  shown  in  Table  No.  37. 

TABLE  NO.  37. 

ACCELERATED,  NORMAL  AND  RETARDED  PUPILS  IN 
SALT  LAKE  CITY,  BY  GRADES. 


ACCELERATED 

NORMAL 

RETARDED 

GRADE 

No. 

% 

No. 

% 

No. 

%    > 

IA 

37 

580 
45 

327 

86 
316 

77 
206 
75 
182 
85 
123 
49 
146 
36 
178 

5.9 
30.0 
57.1 
23.6 
10.7 
21.3 
8.6 
16.2 
8.5 
16.1 
10.7 
12.2 
7.7 
15.1 
9.9 
18.1 

355 
954 

318 
689 
368 
656 
345 
518 
279 
426 
225 
358 
183 
340 
131 
338 

55.8 
49.3 
30.7 
49.6 
43.9 
44.0 
38.8 
40.8 
31.7 
37.5 
28.3 
35.5 
29.8 
35.3 
36.4 
34.7 

239 
40 
273 
372 
385 
516 
470 
548 
525 
527 
486 
528 
392 
480 
194 
460 

38.3 
20.7 
12.2 
26.8 
46.3 
34.7 
52.6 
43.0 
59.8 
46.4 
61.0 
52.3 
62.5 
49.6 
53.7 
47.2 

IB    

IIA                           .     .  . 

IIB 

IIIA    

IIIB   .  

IVA  . 

IVB 

VA    

VB   

VIA  . 

VIB  . 

VIIA  

VIIB  

VIIIA  . 

VIIIB  . 

High  School. 


IXA  

17 

5.7 

89 

31.2 

180 

63.1 

IXB  

91 

18.1 

172 

34.4 

236 

47.5 

X  A  ... 

6 

6  3 

33 

34  7 

56 

59.0 

XB  .  . 

71 

18  7 

135 

35  7 

248 

45.6 

XIA  . 

3 

4  8 

23 

37  3 

36 

57  9 

XIB 

70 

26  3 

90 

33  9 

105 

39  8 

XIIA  

0 

66.7 

4 

33.3 

2 

0 

XIIB  

53 

25  7 

93 

45.2 

59 

29.1 

Totals  . 

2859 

16.2 

7122 

40.0 

7641 

43.4 

*It  should  be  remembered  that  the  age-grade  statistics  were  taken 
at  the  end  of  the  school  year,  so  that  the  age  for  completing  any  grade 
rather  than  that  of  beginning  is  taken.  The  basis  used  in  determining 
overageness  is  the  usual  basis  for  counting.  The  three-year  limit  used 
in  the  Salt  Lake  City  school  reports  is  too  liberal. 


190  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

Figure  28,  in  which  the  distribution  of  the  total  school  en- 
rollment in  this  respect  is  shown,  gives  the  same  result  in 
graphic  form. 


NORMAL 
4O.4% 


CCELERATEo^RETARDED 

43.4 


FIGURE    28.     SHOWING   RELATIVE    PROPORTIONS    OF 
NORMAL,  RETARDED  AND  ACCELERATED  PU- 
PILS IN  THE  SALT  LAKE  CITY  SCHOOLS. 

High  percentage  of  retarded  pupils.  The  significant  fact 
in  regard  to  this  distribution  is  that  the  retarded  group  is  the 
largest  of  the  three.  The  backward  children  in  the  ungraded 
school  are  not  included  in  these  percentages.  If  these  were 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  CHILDREN.  191 

added,  the  proportion  represented  by  the  dark  area  of  the  circle 
would  be  still  greater. 

This  city  ranks  among  those  having  a  relatively  high  per- 
centage of  retarded  pupils.  Table  No.  38  gives  a  list  of  cities 
in  which  similar  studies  have  been  made.  All,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  Salt  Lake  City  and  Butte,  Montana,  have  been  taken 
from  Ayres'  "Identification  of  the  Misfit  Child.**" 

TABLE  NO.  38. 
RETARDATION  IN  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

Retarded    Normal    Accelerated 

1.  Quincy,  Mass 19%  31%  50% 

2.  Racine,  Wis 28  42  30 

3.  Amsterdam,  N.  Y 28  23  49 

4.  Syracuse,  N.  Y 29  29  42 

5.  Indianapolis,  Ind 29  37  34 

6.  Danbury,  Conn 31  31  38 

7.  Milwaukee,  Wis 31  41  28 

8.  Rockford,  111 32  40  28 

9.  Canton,  0 34  38  28 

10.  Elmira,  N.  Y 34  28  38 

11.  New  Rochelle,  N.  Y 34  30  36 

12.  Muskegon,  Mich 35  40  25 

13.  Niagara  Falls,  N.  Y 36  33  31 

14.  Topeka,  Kansas 36  38  26 

15.  Danville,  111 38  34  28 

16.  Trenton,  N.  J 38  31  31 

17.  Reading,  Pa 40  35  25 

18.  Plainfield,  N.  J 40  30  3i> 

19.  Perth  Amboy,  N.  J 41  32  27 

20.  Bayonne,  N.  J 42  31  27 

21.  Hazelton,  Pa 42  36  22 

22.  Salt  Lake  City  43  40  16 

23.  East  St.  Louis,  111 44  34  22 

24.  Elizabeth,  N.  J 46  31  23 

25.  Kenosha,  Wis 48  36  16 

26.  Mont  Clair,  N.  J 48  34  18 

27.  New  Orleans,  La.  (White)  49  31  20 

28.  Butte,  Mont 51  41  7 

29.  Passaic,  N.  J 51 32 17 

**Russell  Sage  Foundation,  Bulletin  No.  108. 


192 


SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 


It  is  of  further  importance  to  note  that  not  only  are  43.3 
per  cent  of  the  school  children  in  this  city  retarded,  but  in 
many  cases  the  degree  of  retardation  reaches  two,  three,  or 
even  more  than  four  years.  The  amount  of  each  is  shown  in 
Figure  29. 


Z  1 

ACCELERATED 


I  2  3 

RETARDED 


FIG.  29.     DEGREE   OF  ACCELERATION   OR  RETARDA- 
TION OF  PUPILS  IN  THE  SALT  LAKE  CITY  SCHOOLS. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  although  in  the  shaded  area  the 
number  retarded  one  year  make  up  the  largest  group,  nearly 
one-half  as  many  are  retarded  two  years;  and  that  the  num- 
ber retarded  three  >and  four  years  is  half  as  large  as  the  two 
year  group.  'Such  a  condition  emphasizes  anew  the  need  for 
more  ungraded  rooms  and  those  pupil  adjustments  pointed  out 
in  the  last  chapter. 

Distribution  of  the  retarded  pupils.  Figure  30,  on  the  op- 
posite page,  shows  the  extent  of  this  problem  in  detail,  in- 
dicating how  each  grade  in  the  school  is  affected  by  the  great 
number  of  children  who  vary  from  the  normal. 


ACCELERATED  + 

O  10  20  70  40 


CZD-NORMAl^S*  I  YR.^^2YRSJlIIIIh3YR$HBM  YR 
^^  .„»» : _*>  RETARDED 


yo  2.0  IO  O  PERCEI* 


FIG    30     SHOWING  DISTREBQTION  OF  NORMAL,  ACCELERATED, 
AND  RETARDED  PUPILS,  BY  GRADES 


194 


SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 


Retardation  begins  early  in  the  grades  and  increases  to 
the  sixth  grade,  when  there  is  a  noticeable  falling  off.  This 
falling  off  is  due  in  part  to  the  fact  that  the  regular  routine 
school  work  offers  little  attraction  to  a  child  who  has  be- 
come greatly  retarded,  and  in  part  to  the  fact  that  many  reach 
the  end  of  th^  compulsory  school  age  by  the  time  this  point 
is  reached.  (See  F'igure  13,  page  63.)  Repeating  the  same 
work  over  and  over  again  becomes  monotonous  even  for  nor- 
mal adults.  In  Fig  31  the  number  of  children  in  the  A  and  B 


GRADE 

I 

n 

GRADE 

n 

GRADE 

IE 

GRADE 

W 

GRADE 

1Z 

GRADE 

-si 

GRADE 

inr 

GRADE 

"VTTT 

•'• 

PIG.  31.  PERCENTAGE  OF  RETARDED  PUPILS,  BY 
GRADES. 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  CHILDREN. 


195 


sections  of  each  grade  have  been  added  together,  and  the 
increase  in  retardation  to  the  sixth  grade  and  the  falling  off 
thereafter  are  more  clearly  shown. 

The  amount  of  retardation  in  Grade  I  is  29.5  per  cent; 
in  Grade  VI,  56.6  per  cent;  and  in  Grade  VIII,  50.4  per  cent. 

Dropping  out  of  school  on  the  part  of  retarded  pupils  is 
not  an  uncommon  occurrence  in  our  city  schools,  and  has  been 
noted  in  many  cities.  Investigations  show  that  the  children 
who  drop  out  at  that  time  are  usually  those  who  have  be- 
come discouraged  through  failures,  and  through  the  embarrass- 
ment of  being  greatly  over  age.  It  would  be  comparatively 
easy  to  show  that  dropping  out  of  school  before  reaching  the 
eighth  grade  is  many  times  as  common  among  retarded  chil- 
dren as  among  those  who  have  made  normal  progress. 

Conditions  in  one  room.  The  following  is  an  example  of 
the  conditions  found  in  one  class  in  Salt  Lake  City.  The  con- 
dition shown  here  is  not  unusual  for  the  city.  Such  condi- 
tions are  not  infrequently  brought  about  by  the  wide  range 
of  ages  in  a  single  room :  Miss  G.,  teacher  of  Grades  II-B  and 
III-A,  in  the  F.  school,  has  in  her  room  thirty-nine  pupils,  who 
are  distributed  by  ages  thus : 


AGE 


II-B 


III-B 


7.0—7.5 

2 

7  6—7  11 

4 

1 

Accelerated. 

8  0  85 

6 

1 

8.6—8.11  

3 

1 

Normal. 

90—95 

3 

4 

9  6—9  11 

1 

1 

10.0—10  5   

1 

4 

Retarded 

10  6—10  11 

3  

11.0—115  . 

1 

11  6—11.11   . 

12.0—125  . 

1 

1 

12.6—12.11   . 

1 

196  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

Only  those  enclosed  by  the  heavy  lines  can  be  said  to  be 
normal.  Those  above  are  accelerated,  and  those  below  are 
retarded.  With  the  accelerated  pupils  in  this  room  the  teacher 
will  have  little  difficulty.  True,  they  may  be  of  superior  in- 
telligence, and  capable  of  doing  much  more  work  than 
and  teacher  of  thirty-nine  pupils  can  afford  to  arrange 
for  them.  But  their  progress  is  assured  to  a  reasonable  de- 
gree. The  striking  feature  of  the  class  is  the  "over-ageness" 
with  which  the  teacher  has  to  deal.  The  seventeen  pupils 
represented  below  the  line  will  require  her  attention  during 
the  entire  school  day,  if  they  are  to  be  properly  instructed.  In 
fact,  a  class  of  seventeen  retarded  pupils  is  larger  than  the 
generally  accepted  maximum  for  such  classes. 

Fortunately,  all  of  the  pupils  below  the  line  in  this  in- 
stance are  not  mentally  below  -normal.  Those  nearest  the  line 
may  have  been  held  out  of  school  for  a  time,  or  may  be  retarded 
for  reasons  of  such  slight  consequence  that  no  unusual  amount 
of  special  attention  need  be  given  them.  There  are  at  least 
seven  pupils  in  the  class,  however,  who  are  seriously  over-age. 
We  may  be  sure  that  all  of  those  below  the  dotted  line  are  in 
need  of  a  great  deal  of  individual  instruction  or  training. 

A  proper  redistribution  of  the  pupils.  Assuming  that  chil- 
dren can  be  properly  graded  in  the  schools,  Figure  32  repre- 
sents the  pupils  in  this  room,  arranged  in  order  of  their  ages, 
to  show  how  a  reasonable  separation  could  be  'brought  about. 
Such  a  separation,  however,  requires  the  general  provision  of 
ungraded  and  special  classes. 

After  removing  the  extreme  cases,  this  still  leaves  thirty 
pupils  whose  ages  vary  from  7%  to  10  years.  Considering  fur- 
ther the  conditions  relative  to  the  lighting  and  ventilating  of 
the  basement  room  in  which  this  class  was  found,  it  is  not  diffi- 
cult to  see  that  the  teacher  will  still  have  a  task  equal,  at  least, 
to  her  compensation. 

The  fifth  grade  as  an  example  of  uneven  distribution.  In 
further  illustration  of  the  uneven  distribution  of  children  in  the 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  CHILDREN. 


197 


grades,  data  concerning  all  fifth  grade  pupils  in  the  city  have 
been  brought  together  and  presented  in  Figure  33. 

The  enrollment  and  age  distribution  in  this  grade  are  such 
that  the  group  is  fairly  representative  of  all  the  grades,  and 
this  diagram  is  not  an  exaggeration  of  the  unevenness  found 
through  the  school  sytsem. 

"Repeaters."  Inability  on  the  part  of  pupils  to  do  the 
work  of  their  grade  usually  results  in  non-promotion,  and  hence 
the  necessity  of  repeating  the  work  another  year  or  half-year. 
Some  children  have  repeated  the  work  as  many  as  six  times, 
and  cases  of  even  a  larger  number  of  repetitions  have  been 
found.  There  were  at  the  time  of  the  survey  1570  pupils 
in  Salt  Lake  City  who  were  repeating  their  grades.  This  is 
approximately  9  per  cent  of  the  entire  number  belonging.  The 


2  JO 

TOTAL,   39    PUPILS. 


FIG  32     ACCELERATED,  NORMAL,  AND  RETARDED  PU 
PILS'  IN  ONE  ROOM. 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  CHILDREN. 


199 


teacher  was  asked  in  each  case  to  state  whether  the  work  of 
each  child  was  being  taken  for  the  first,  second,  third,  fourth, 
or  more  times.  The  number  in  each  case  of  repetition  is  as 
follows : 

Taking  work  the  second  time  1555  pupils 

Taking  work  the  third  time 101  pupils 

Taking  work  fourth  time,  or  more 14  pupils 

In  Figure  34  the  relative  number  of  promotions  and  fail- 
ures are  shown  for  each  grade  for  the  year  1913-14,  as  printed 
in  the  last  annual  report  of  the  board  of  education. 


RESULTS    OF   PROMOTIONS,   J9J3-M. 


FIG.  34.  RELATIVE  NUMBER  OF  PROMOTIONS  AND 
FAILURES,  BY  GRADES. 


200  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

£ 

All  of  the  children  represented  in  each  grade  by  the  dark- 
ened area  will  become  "repeaters"  for  the  next  half-year,  pro- 
vided they  remain  in  school.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  rel- 
ative number  of  failures  decreases  somewhat  through  the 
grades,  until  the  number  who  are  not  promoted  to  the  high 
school  grades  is  very  small.  This  is  unquestionably  due  to 
the  dropping  out  of  the  backward  pupils  before  reaching  the 
higher  grades.  The  number  retained  in  the  first  grade  is  ap- 
proximately 16  per  cent  of  the  total  number  belonging. 

Causes  of  Retardation.  The  teachers  were  asked,  in  each 
case  of  repetition  or  serious  retardation,  to  make  some  state- 
ment relative  to  the  probable  cause.  The  following  were  the 
most  frequently  given  reasons : 

1.  Poor  home  conditions. 

2.  Physical  ailments. 

3.  Transferring  from  another  school. 

4.  Retarded  mental  development. 

5.  Difficulty  with  the  English  language. 

6.  Lack  of  application. 

7.  Poor  attendance. 

8.  Laziness. 

9.  Late  entering. 
10.     Delinquency. 

Many  more  interesting  reasons  were  given,  and  while 
probably  in  certain  cases  each  could  be  justified  as  a  separate 
excuse,  it  is  obvious  that  there  is  a  close  relation  among  several 
of  those  given  here.  After  analyzing  many  cases,  and  inquiring 
into  the  exact  conditions,  the  writer  has  found  that,  with  a 
few  possible  exceptions,  the  following  have  produced  prac- 
aically  all  of  the  retardation  in  the  city : 

1.  Mental  deficiency. 

2.  Physical  ailments. 

3.  Poor  home  conditions. 

Age  at  entering  the  first  grade.  It  is  not  un  common  for 
teachers  and  principals  to  assume  that  much  of  the  retarda- 
tion in  their  rooms  is  due  to  the  lateness  with  which  the  chil- 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  CHILDREN. 


201 


dren  enter  school.  That  this  is  not  an  important  cause,  con- 
sidering the  large  amount  of  retardation,  may  be  easily  proven. 
Children  in  Salt  Lake  City  commonly  enter  the  first  grade  at 
the  age  of  six  years,  some  enter  even  earlier,  and,  although 
some  enter  later,  the  number  whose  retardation  is  the  direct 
result  of  late  entering  is  small.  Figure  35  shows  the  distribu- 
tion of  the  entering  ages.  Nearly  70  per  cent  have  entered  at 
five  or  six  years,  and  nearly  90  per  cent  at  not  later  than  seven 
years. 


-60 


FIVE  YEARS    I    SIX    YEARS  ISEYEN  YEARS     lEl&HT  YEARS     WINE  YEARS      I    TEN  YEARS 

FIG.    35.     DISTRIBUTION    OF   AGES    AT    WHICH   SALT 

LAKE  CITY  CHILDREN  ENTER  THE  FIRST 

SCHOOL  GRADE. 


Other  explanations  for  retardation.  "Poor  home  condi- 
tions" is  one  of  the  most  common  reasons  given  by  teachers 
to  account  for  a  child's  retardation,  or  his  slowness  in  school. 
In  some  cases  this  is  beyond  a  doubt  a  valid  explanation.  This 
is  especially  true  where  children  are  needed  for  long  hours  of 
work  out  of  school,  or  where  there  is  drunkenness,  immorality, 
and  other  forms  of  social  degeneracy  which  would  cause  dis- 
couragement and  even  contempt  for  school.  There  are,  how- 
ever, relatively  few  such  homes  in  Salt  Lake  City.  One  in- 
stance of  the  kind  was  noted,  but  the  amount  of  mental  de- 
ficiency in  the  family  would  easily  account  for  the  conditions. 


202  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

" Difficulty  with  the  English  language"  is  also  a  common 
answer.  'Since,  however,  the  proportion  of  foreign  persons  in 
this  city  is  so  very  small,  and  most  of  these  being  from  North- 
ern Europe,  this  can  seldom  account  for  slow  progress.  Fur- 
ther, many  cases  are  on  record  of  foreign  children  of  normal 
mentality  who  have  made  even  better  than  average  progress. 

Physical  defects  'and  ill  health  are  probably  more  com- 
monly causes  of  retardation  than  any  factor  except  mental 
deficiency.  How  the  health  conditions  of  children  are  related 
to  school  progress  are  discussed  in  another  chapter.  With  the 
development  of  the  system  of  medical  inspection  these  causes 
can  be  controlled. 

Subnormal  and  backward  children.  The  vast  majority  of 
the  children  who  are  retarded  in  school  are  making  slow  prog- 
ress because  their  intelligence  is  below  the  average  for  children 
of  their  ages.  By  no  means,  however,  are  all  of  these  mentally 
defective ;  children  vary  in  mental  capacity  just  as  we  all  vary 
among  ourselves  in  height,  weight,  strength,  and  ability  of  all 
kinds.  There  is  thus  often  a  degree  of  mental  retardation 
which  accounts  for  the  retardation  in  school.  This  mental  re- 
tardation is  now  measurable,  and  intelligence  testing  has  been 
so  perfected  that  by  means  o>f  a  brief  examination  with  a  series 
of  psychological  tests  the  child's  mental  age  can  be  determined. 
This  mental  age  represents  the  approximate  level  of  intelli- 
gence of  the  child,  by  which  he  can  be  compared  with  other 
children,  and  his  general  'ability  determined,  as  far  as  this 
depends  upon  intelligence. 

Usually  about  75  per  cent  of  ordinary  school  children  have 
normal  intelligence  levels ;  that  is,  their  mental  age  is  approx- 
imately the  same  as  their  actual  age  in  years  and  months.  The 
remainder  of  the  children  deviate  from  the  normal  either  above 
or  below.  Those  whose  mental  ages  are  decidedly  above  their 
actual  ages  'are  said  to  be  of  superior  intelligence.  Those  who 
are  slightly  'below  are  said  to  be  dull-normal,  or  backward; 
while  there  are  some  whose  deviation  is  so  far  below  the  aver- 
age that  they  are  classified  as  feeble-minded.  Another  group, 


PROGRESS  OP  THE  CHILDREN.  203 

just  above  the  feeble-minded,  consists  of  those  who  are  above, 
but  very  little  above,  the  lowest  group.  These  are  called 
border-line  cases. 

Mental  classification  groups.  In  the  mental  classification 
of  children,  then,  we  have  five  general  groups : 

1.  The  feeble-minded  group. 

2.  The  border-line  group. 

3.  The  dull-normal  group. 

4.  The  normal  group. 

5.  Children  of  superior  intelligence. 

Not  every  child  can  be  definitely  placed  in  one  of  these 
groups.  The  names  used  here  are  but  arbitrary,  and  do  not 
represent  the  various  "types"  into  which  it  was  formerly  sup- 
posed that  children  could  be  classified.  In  fact,  each  group 
contains  so  many  varying  degrees  of  intelligence  that  it  is 
difficult  to  draw  a  line  between  any  two  groups.  The  classifica- 
tion is  used  merely  for  the  sake  of  convenience  in  discussing 
the  several  relative  levels  of  intelligence. 

All  of  these  groups  are  represented  in  the  public  schools 
of  Salt  Lake  City.  Children  of  all  of  these  varying  degrees 
were  examined  during  the  progress  of  the  survey.  It  is  not 
surprising  that  children  should  be  greatly  variable  in  their 
school  ability  and  in  the  progress  they  make,  When  we  con- 
sider that  actual  mental  capacity  is  of  such  varying  degrees. 
And  it  is  important  to  remember  that  the  degree  of  success  or 
failure  which  will  be  met  in  the  later  life  of  these  children  is 
largely  dependent  upon  these  levels  of  intelligence. 

Children  examined  by  the  intelligence  tests.  A  number  of 
children  were  examined  during  the  survey,  and  their  mental 
ages  determined.  Records  were  'also  obtainable  of  children 
who  had  been  examined  by  school  principals  and  the  psychol- 
ogist in  charge  of  the  ungraded  school.  Enough  records  were 
obtained  so  that  the  mental  'ages  of  about  120  children  were 
secured.  The  children  selected  for  examination  were  of  three 
groups : 

1.     Those  of  supposedly  normal  intelligence. 


204  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

2.  Those  of  superior  ability. 

3.  Those  who  were  backward  in  their  work. 

The  children  selected  by  their  teachers  as  being  of  normal 
intelligence  usually  tested  approximately  normal.  In  one 
case,  a  child  who  was  thought  to  be  normal  was  found  to  be 
somewhat  mentally  retarded,  his  quickness  and  alertness  hav- 
ing misled  persons  in  estimating  his  intelligence.  In  another 
case,  a  child  supposedly  no  brighter  than  the  average  was 
found  to  be  decidedly  above  the  average  for  her  age.  These 
examples  illustrate  how  the  teacher  may  sometimes  be  mistaken 
in  a  child's  mental  capacity,  and  these  mistakes  sometimeis 
lead  to  the  misplacing  of  children  in  school.  Not  infrequently 
teachers  of  many  years'  experience  will  make  such  errors.  On 
the  whole,  however,  the  teacher  is  better  able  to  judge  the 
intelligence  of  her  pupils  than  any  one  else,  except  the  psychol- 
ogist, or  one  who  is  capable  of  giving  intelligence  tests.  Teach- 
ers rarely  make  a  mistake  in  selecting  a  child  of  superior  intel- 
ligence, and  almost  never  is  a  child  found  to  be  normal  whom 
the  teacher  thinks  is  sub-normal. 

Since  mistakes  do  occur,  however,  it  is  best  not  to  trust  the 
judgment  of  any  person  who  is  not  a  psychologist,  and  even  he 
will  make  use  of  what  is  known  as  the  Scale  for  Measuring  In- 
telligence before  making  any  statement  as  to  the  mental  level 
of  the  child. 

The  measuring  scale  used.  In  making  the  examinations, 
use  was  made  of  the  Stanford  Revision  of  the  Binet-Simon 
Measuring  Scale  of  Intelligence.  This  consists  of  a  series  of 
psychological  tests  which  have  been  arranged  in  such  order 
that  from  the  number  and  kinds  of  tests  which  a  child  can  pass 
the  examiner  can  calculate  the  child's  general  level  of  intelli- 
gence. This  scale  was  formulated  in  1908  by  Dr.  Binet,  a 
French  psychologist,  and  Dr.  Simon,  a  physician  o<f  Paris. 
Since  that  time  many  thousands  of  school  children  have  been 
examined  by  this  method,  and  it  has  been  found  everywhere 
to  be  surprisingly  accurate  and  practically  indispensable  in 
judging  intelligence.  It  has  been  successfully  used  with  nor- 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  CHILDREN.  205 

mal  children,  children  of  superior  intelligence,  and  with  back- 
ward and  feeble-minded  children  and  adults.  It  has  been 
used  in  so  many  different  countries,  cities,  and  schools,  and 
leading  psychologists  have  so  admired  its  usefulness,  that 
scientific  investigations  have  been  able  to  revise  and  extend 
the  scale  until  its  value  and  accuracy  are  much  greater  than 
with  the  original  set  of  tests  devised  by  Binet  and  Simon.  The 
Stanford  Revision,*  which  was  used  during  the  survey,  is  the 
most  carefully  worked  out  revision  which  has  been  made  up 
to  the  present  time. 

Backward  children  studied.  To  illustrate  what  a  serious 
problem  the  mental  retardation  of  some  children  presents  to 
the  school,  the  distribution  of  108  backward  children,  for  whom 
records  were  obtained,  is  shown  in  Figure  36. 


CHILDREN 
-25 


AGES  AND  MENTAL  AGES  OF 
10?   BACKWARD  SCHOOL  CHILDREN 
IN   SALT  LAKE  CITY    -» 


9        tO      II      12      13       14     15     16      17      \f     19    YEARS 


FIG.  36.  ACTUAL  AND  MENTAL  AGES  COMPARED  FOR 
A  GROUP  OF  RETARDED  PUPILS. 


"The  work  of  Dr.  Lewis  M.   Terman.     This  revision,  and  a  manual 
for  its  use,  will  shortly  appear  in  print. 


206  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

The  area  enclosed  by  the  heavy  line  and  shaded  shows 
the  distribution  of  the  ages  of  these  108  children.  The  young- 
est is  7  years,  while  the  oldest  is  19.  The  dotted  line  encloses 
the  area  which  represents  the  distribution  of  the  mental  ages 
of  these  same  108  children.  The  youngest  mental  age  is  3 
years,  while  the  oldest  is  13  years.  Had  a  group  o>£  normal 
children  been  thus  arranged,  the  dotted  line  would  be  super- 
imposed upon  the  heavy  line,  and  the  area  of  mental  age  would 
be  the  same  as  that  of  actual  age.  The  median  mental  age  of 
this  group  is  9  years,  while  the  median  actual  age  is  12.  Thus 
there  is  a  general  retardation  of  3  years,  or  25  per  cent. 

In  some  individual  cases,  the  retardation  is  much  more  than 
3  years.  For  example,  the  child  who  tested  3  years  mentally  in 
this  case  is  actually  9  years  of  age,  and  thus  his  retardation  is 
more  than  66  per  cent.  Such  a  child,  of  course,  is  of  extremely 
low  intelligence,  and  does  not  belong  in  any  public  school,  but 
should  be  placed  in  an  institution  for  the  feeble-minded.  When 
the  'State  of  Utah  builds  such  an  institution,  or  colony,  the 
teachers  in  the  public  schools  will  not  be  burdened  writh  chil- 
dren who  are  so  helpless.  Very  fortunately,  there  are  but 
few  such  low  grade  children  in  the  public  schools  of  'Salt 
Lake  'City. 

Feeble-minded  children.  There  are  many  children  in  the 
schools  of  this  city,  however,  who  just  as  properly  belong  in 
institutions  or  colonies  for  the  feeble-minded  as  the  one  just 
mentioned,  although  their  deficiency  is  proportionately  so  much 
less  that  it  is  not  so  easily  recognized.  For  these  cases  the 
Intelligence  Scale  is  of  much  greater  importance.  Ordinarily, 
children  whose  intelligence  is  found,  by  measurement,  to  be 
less  than  75  per  cent  of  their  actual  ages,  are  feeble-minded. 
This  means  that  their  intelligence,  as  long  as  they  live,  will 
not  develop  to  a  level  much  beyond  that  of  the  average  child 
of  12  years.  It  must  be  remembered  that  this  12  year  level  is 
the  upper  limit,  and  that  most  feeble-minded  persons  never 
reach  this  level.  Many  of  them,  although  they  may  be  nearly 
normal  physically,  have  never  developed  mentally  beyond  the 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  CHILDREN.  207 

10,  9,  8,  or  7  year  level.  Such  persons  cannot,  of  course,  be 
expected  ever  to  be  able  to  compete  in  life  with  normal  per- 
sons, or  even  to  make  a  living  for  themselves  if  left  unassisted. 
Many  of  those  who  are  not  cared  for  become  criminals,  pros- 
titutes, paupers,  or  become  socially  degenerate  in  some  'Other 
way.  Among  school  children  mental  deficiency  often  expresses 
itself  in  the  'form  of  delinquency. 

These  waste  both  the  teacher's  time  and  their  awn.  Fee- 
ble-minded children  are  not  always  vicious.  Often  their  tem- 
perament is  such  that  their  teachers  'and  friends  are  inclined 
to  overlook  their  mental  deficiency,  and  good  conduct  and 
obedience  is  mistaken  for  intelligence.  Clara  P.,*  for  example, 
is  15  years  of  age.  'She  is  in  the  seventh  grade,  and  has  been 
making  such  slow  progress  that  the  teacher  had  become  dis- 
couraged with  her.  She  was  examined,  and  found  to  have  a 
mentality  of  10%  years.  Because  she  has  been  a  "good  plod- 
der" and  has  presented  no  difficulty  in  discipline,  she  was  not 
considered  feeble-minded,  or  even  much  below  normal.  In 
fact,  she  has  long  since  reached  the  grade  of  work  possible  for 
one  of  her  level  of  intelligence,  and  it  is  a  waste  of  time  and 
an  injustice  to  the  child  to  keep  her  in  the  regular  school  any 
longer.  Much  of  the  teacher's  time  has  been  taken  ifrom  the 
already  too  large  class  in  futile  attempts  to  teach  her  things 
which  she  cannot  learn,  and  which  would  be  of  little  use  to 
her  if  she  could  retain  them.  Clara  should  be  in  an  institution 
or  colony  for  the  feeble-minded,  where  she  could  be  taught  at 
least  how  to  do  housework  of  the  simpler  kinds,  where  she 
will  not  be  a  burden  upon  those  who  have  her  in  charge,  and 
where  normal  children  will  not  be  neglected  in  order  that  she 
may  be  instructed.  Numerous  other  examples  just  as  striking 
have  been  found  in  the  schools.  Some  of  them,  of  whom  space 
does  not  permit  further  description,  are  as  follows: 

George  B Age  15,       Mentality     8.         In  Grade  4. 

Francis  A.  .  .Age  10,       Mentality     8.         In  Grade  1. 
Amy  C Age  15,       Mentality     9y2.     In  Grade  7. 

*Names   used   here    are   fictitious. 


208  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

Verna  K. . .  .Age  12,       Mentality  10.         In  Grade  3. 

Everett  D.  ..Age  13,       Mentality     9%.     In  Grade  4. 

Ernest  L. . .  .Age  12%,  Mentality     9.         In  Grade  2. 

All  of  these  children  are  either  feeble-minded  or  border- 
line cases,  and  none  of  them  should  be  in  the  regular  grades 
with  normal  children. 

Number  of  such  found  in  every  city.  It  is  generally  esti- 
mated that  in  any  city  the  number  of  feeble-minded  children  is 
between  2  and  3  per  cent  of  the  entire  school  enrollment.  Prob- 
ably the  latter  number  is  a  safer  estimate.  '  Although  there  is 
reason  to  believe  that  the  average  intelligence  among  the  pop- 
ulation of  Salt  Lake  City  may  be  slightly  above  that  of  the 
average  city,  on  account  of  the  freedom  from  slums,  etc.,  yet 
the  number  of  feeble-minded  children  in  the  city  cannot  be 
much  below  3  per  cent  of  the  school  enrollment.  The  number 
is  somewhat  increased  by  the  lack  of  state  facilities  for  the 
care  of  mental  defectives. 

We  may  be  reasonably  certain  that  there  are  not  less  than 
600  children  in  the  public  schools  who  are  mentally  retarded 
to  such  a  degree  that  no  amount  of  teaching  can  ever  make 
them  normal.  In  addition  to  these  there  are  many  more  chil- 
dren who  are  mentally  retarded  to  a  less  degree,  but  are  still 
so  far  from  average-normal  that  in  classes  with  normal  chil- 
dren they  are  likely  to  receive  little  benefit.  It  is  these  chil- 
dren wbo  are  the  direct  cause  of  much  of  the  school  retardation 
in  the  city. 

Apparently  the  problem  has  been  recognized,  and  an 
attempt  has  been  made  to  solve  it.  For  this  attempt,  although 
inadequate,  the  city  is  to  be  commended.  Provision  for  back- 
ward children  has  been  made  (1)  by  the  Ungraded  School,  and 
(2)  by  ungraded  classes. 

The  Ungraded  School.  This  now  occupies  one  of  the  oldest 
school  buildings  in  the  city.  The  school  consists  of  five 
teachers  and  a  principal.  There  are  five  rooms,  and  about  90 
children  were  belonging  at  the  time  of  the  survey.  The  usual 
enrollment  is  about  100.  The  building  is  very  poorly  lighted, 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  CHILDREN.  209 

and  the  heating  and  ventilation  facilities  are  worse  than  should 
be  tolerated  in  any  school.  The  principal's  office  occupies  a 
basement  room,  which  can  be  directly  entered  only  through  a 
back  door.  The  conditions  in  the  school  rooms  are  no  better. 
The  property  on  which  the  building  stands  is  of  relatively  high 
value,  however,  and  since  with  adequate  transportation  facil- 
ities the  location  is  of  secondary  importance,  it  is  probable 
that  the  land  could  be  sold  at  a  figure  which  would  apply  sub- 
stantially toward  a  new  building  on  'a  less  expensive  site. 

The  children  are  given  individual  attention,  especially  in 
the  subjects  in  which  they  seem  to  be  the  most  backward.  The 
principal  is  a  university  graduate  in  psychology,  and  is  qual- 
ified to  give  mental  tests  and  to  judge  the  intelligence  of  the 
children.  During  the  past  four  years  he  has  made  about  90 
of  such  examinations.  He  is  frequently  called  upon  to  examine 
children  in  the  regular  schools  to  determine  their  degree  of 
defectiveness  or  backwardness,  and  to  advise  principals  and 
teachers  concerning  the  proper  placing  of  certain  children  who 
offer  difficulties  of  instruction  or  discipline. 

Mistaken  aim  of  the  ungraded  school.  For  the  most  part, 
the  teachers  in  the  ungraded  school  are  energetic  and  inter- 
ested. None  have  had  special  training  for  this  work,  how- 
ever, although  some  are  contemplating  this  for  the  present 
summer.  Little  manual  training  is  taught,  and  the  chief  aim 
has  been  to  instruct  children  in  the  subjects  in  which  they  are 
the  most  deficient,  with  a  view  to  their  being  placed  again  in 
the  grades. 

To  make  this  the  'aim  of  the  ungraded  school  is  misleading. 
Although  it  is  a  splendid  thing  for  children  who  are  slightly 
back  in  arithmetic,  for  example,  to  be  specially  assisted  in  mak- 
ing up  their  particular  difficulties,  this  is  not  what  the  un- 
graded school  should  'be  doing.  Fully  75  per  cent  of  the  pupils 
in  the  school  are  mentally  so  far  below  normal  that  they  will 
not  be  able,  even  with  this  special  instruction,  to  "make  up" 
their  grades,  and  continue  thereafter  to  make  normal  progress. 
Practically  all  of  those  now  enrolled  in  the  school,  and  many 


210  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

more  who  should  be  enrolled  when  provisions  are  made  for  a 
larger  ungraded  school,  are  in  need  of  continued  special  class 
work.  Teachers  and  principals  should  not  be  deluded  by 
thinking  that  children  are  normal  because  the  special  class  has 
improved  them. 

Proper  training  for  such  pupils.  When  the  State  Legis- 
lature makes  adequate  provision  for  the  care  of  the  feeble- 
minded, the  public  schools  will  'be  relieved  of  many  of  their 
defective  children.  This  it  should  do  without  further  delay. 
There  will  still  be  need  for  the  special  school,  however.  Prob- 
ably none  of  the  border-line  and  dull-normal  cases  will  be 
removed,  and  there  will  always  be  many  of  the  higher  grade 
feeble-minded  children  who  must  be  trained  in  the  public 
schools.  There  should  be  a  special  school  of  not  less  than  15 
teachers,  equipped  not  for  average  children,  as  in  other  schools, 
but  especially  'for  children  whose  minds  have  not  developed 
normally.  This  should  include,  first  of  'all,  material  for  manual 
work.  In  no  other  line  can  defective  children,  be  trained  to 
any  degree  of  usefulness.  It  is  folly  to  waste  much  of  their 
time  in  reading,  arithmetic,  etc.,  beyond  the  work  of  the  lower 
grades.  While  it  may  happen  frequently  that  feeble-minded 
children  can  retain  for  a  short  time  some  of  the  things  they 
have  'been  taught  in  these  subjects,  it  is  far  from  efficiency  to 
learn  things  which  can  never  be  used.  Backward  and  feeble- 
minded children  can  be  trained  in  manual  work,  however,  and 
in  some  cities  and  institutions  much  has  been  done  in  this  line 
which  has  added  to  their  happiness  and  usefulness. 

The  so-called  ungraded  rooms.  Another  method  which 
has  been  used  in  dealing  with  retarded  pupils  is  that  of  the 
ungraded  room.  There  are  at  present  six  teachers  giving  full 
time  in  ungraded  rooms.  Four  teachers  of  domestic  science 
are  giving  approximately  half-time  to  this  work.  In  several 
schools,  the  ungraded  room  has  been  discontinued  for  financial 
reasons. 

In  reality,  these  rooms  are  not  ungraded  rooms  at  all. 
In  fact,  the  children  who  make  use  of  them  are  enrolled  in  the 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  CHILDREN.  211 

regular  grades,  and  one  or  more  periods  of  thirty  minutes  each 
are  given  to  their  special  instruction  in  the  subject  or  subjects 
which  present  the  most  difficulty.  A  large  number  of  children 
can  be  "coached"  in  this  manner,  and  one  teacher  reported  a 
class  of  70  pupils  per  day. 

The  following  is  the  daily  schedule  of  one  of  these  classes: 

9:00  to  9:30  Arithmetic  7B. 

9:30  to  10:00  Reading  2B. 

10 :00  to  10  :30  Arithmetic  5B. 

10:30  to  10:45  Recess. 

10:45  to  11:00  Reading  and  Phonics  3B. 

11:00  to  11:30  Reading  6B. 

11 :30  to  12  :00  Grammar  7A. 

1:00  to  1:40  Geography  7B. 

1:40  to  2:10  Arithmetic  6B. 

2:10  to  2:20 

2:20  to  2:30  Recess. 

2:30  to  3:0'5  Grammar  8B. 

3  :05  to  3  :30  Grammar  9  and  7. 

3:00  to  3:30  Reading  4A. 

In  reality  "Batavia"  rooms.  This  form  of  special  instruc- 
tion is  similar  to  what  is  known  as  the  "Batavia  plan."  While 
this  work  is  of  extreme  importance  to  every  school,  and  fur- 
nishes much  relief  to  teachers,  it  is  by  no  means  a  correct  sub- 
stitute for  the  special  class  for  backward  children.  Quite 
naturally,  children  who  are  backward  or  sub-normal  mentally 
are  most  commonly  sent  to  these  classes,  and  the  writer  has 
observed  many  feeble-minded  children  who  have  been  sent  to 
these  Batavia  teachers  with  the  expectation  that  they  could 
discover  in  what  subjects  they  were  in  need  of  the  greatest 
attention.  In  one  case,  the  teacher  pointed  out  a  boy  who 
has  been  retained  in  one  of  these  classes  for  two  years.  In 
any  school,  even  if  made  up  entirely  of  normal  children,  there 
is  a  place  for  this  work ;  but  it  is  unfortunate  that  it  has  been 
instituted  instead  of  the  much  needed  special  rooms,  where 
the  teacher  may  devote  all  her  time  to  children  who  are  men- 


212  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

# 

tally  sub-normal.     In  nearly  every  school  in  the  city  there  is 
need  for  such  a  class. 

As  in  the  ungraded  school,  none  of  the  teachers  o'f  these 
rooms  have  had  special  training,  and  it  is  not  surprising  that 
there  is  no  one  in  such  schools  who  can  recognize  feeble- 
minded children.  None  have  made  use  of  tests  ifor  this  pur- 
pose. This,  of  course,  is  a  serious  handicap  in  the  conducting 
of  an  ungraded  room,  or  any  form  of  special  class  work. 

What  is  needed  To  what  extent  the  school  retardation 
has  been  affected  by  the  presence  of  sub-normal  children  cannot 
be  determined  to  an  exact  figure.  To  do  this,  it  would  be 
necessary  to  examine  the  mental  condition  of  each  retarded 
pupil,  and  to  inquire  into  the  other  conditions  which  might 
have  been  responsible  for  his  slow  progress.  Many  cities  are 
introducing  research  departments  where  this  and  other  impor- 
tant work  can  be  carried  on.  Little  of  value  ean  be  deter- 
mined except  by  continued  scientific  investigation. 

About  9  per  cent,  or  1570  pupils  in  the  city  schools,  are 
repeating  their  grades  one  or  more  times.  This  means  that  the 
city  is  expending  more  than  $90,000  per  year  for  repeated  in- 
struction. 'Calculating  on  the  basis  of  the  amount  paid  each 
year  for  teachers'  salaries  alone,  $40,000  per  year  is  paid  di- 
rectly for  this  repeated  instruction.  This  sum  represents  the 
salaries  of  50  teachers  at  $800  each.  This  $40,000  would  pro- 
vide : 

15  teachers  in  a  special  school; 

15  additional  teachers  in  ungraded  rooms ;  each  receiving 
a  salary  of  not  less  than  $1200.  These  30  teachers  could  re- 
lieve the  regular  classes  of  450  sub-normal  children,  allowing 
each  teacher  15  special  pupils.  The  value  of  this  to  the  schools, 
and  to  the  happiness  and  usefulness  of  these  pupils,  need  not 
be  reiterated.  To  say  nothing  of  these,  the  change  is  justified 
from  a  purely  business  standpoint. 

The  principal  of  such  a  school.  The  principal  of  the  un- 
graded school  should  be  a  psychologist.  This  the  city  has 
already  recognized.  He  should  have  jurisdiction,  not  only 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  CHILDREN.  213 

over  the  ungraded  school  of  15  teachers,  but  over  all  of  the 
special  class  work  in  the  city.  In  the  latter,  he  would  have 
the  co-operation  of  the  school  principals.  He  should  be  given 
a  clerical  assistant,  to  relieve  him  of  routine  office  duties,  in 
which  otherwise  he  would  lose  much  valuable  time,  and  should 
devote  at  least  one-half  of  each  day  to  research  work  and 
investigation  into  such  problems  as  retardation.  Under  his 
direction  all  retarded  and  greatly  accelerated  pupils  should  be 
examined,  and  the  records  permanently  kept  in  the  laboratory, 
which  should  be  provided  in  the  ungraded  school.  In  a  single 
year  records  of  the  intelligence  of  the  600  sub-normal  children 
in  the  schools  could  be  made.  The  amount  of  retardation  could 
be  greatly  reduced,  by  the  proper  placing  of  pupils,  and  by  the 
additional  assistance  rendered  to  the  health  officers  in  the 
diagnosis  of  cases. 

Ungraded  rooms  for  the  different  schools.  In  each  school 
provision  should  be  made  for  at  least  one  real  ungraded  room. 
This  is  particularly  important  in  planning  new  school  buildings. 
The  following  are  the  salient  points  in  the  construction  of  a 
standard  ungraded  room.* 

1.  The  room  should  be  well  lighted  and  ventilated. 

2.  Not  more  than  15  Children  should  be  provided  for. 

3.  The  room  should  be  approximately  30x40  feet  in  size. 

4.  The  windows  should  be  adjustable,  so  that  an  open-air 
room  can  be  made. 

5.  The  walls  should  be  of  a  neutral  tint. 

6.  Instead  of  school  desks,  movable  tables  and  chairs  of 
various  sizes  should  be  provided. 

7.  There  should  be  8  work  benches  for  manual  training. 

8.  There  should  be  cupboards  and  cases  for  the  display 
and  keeping  of  work. 

9.  The  walls  should  be  provided  with  plenty  of  black- 
boards, built  low,  so  they  can  be  reached  by  the  smallest  pupils. 

10.  A  bathroom  or  shower  should  adjoin  the  room. 

11.  There  should  be  equipment  for  training  in  practical 


*Goddard,    School   Training   of   Defective   Children.      N.   Y.,    1914. 


214  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

housework.  This  should  be  the  essential  equipment  of  a  home, 
including  a  bed,  stove,  dishes,  etc. 

12.     Books,  play  apparatus,  etc.,  should  be  available. 

It  is  obvious  that  such  a  room  is  not  meant  for  the  teach- 
ing of  reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  etc.,  except  in  an  inci- 
dental manner.  Trained  teachers  in  charge  of  these  rooms, 
under  the  supervision  of  an  expert,  will  know  to  what  extent 
the  minds  of  the  children  are  capable  of  each  kind  of  work, 
and  the  instruction  of  each  child  will  follow  accordingly.  As 
has  already  been  pointed  'Out,  the  greatest  success  with  sub- 
normal c'hildren  has  been  obtained  by  placing  emphasis  upon 
manual  work  of  a  practical  sort. 

Exceptional  Children.  Although  the  greater  portion  of 
this  chapter  has  been  -devoted  to  the  problem  of  backward  and 
sub-normal  children,  there  are  other  ways  in  which  children 
may  vary  from  the  average,  and  for  these  special  attention  is 
just  as  necessary.  Often  the  importance  of  the  problem  of 
retardation  overshadows  this  fact,  and  these  children  are  neg- 
lected. 

There  are  many  children  whose  minds  have  developed  more 
rapidly  than  those  of  average  children,  and  whose  intelligence 
is  such  that  they  are  capable  of  work  which  ordinary  children 
cannot  do  at  the  same  age.  In  some  cases  such  children  have 
been  promoted  to  a  grade  or  more  beyond  that  in  which  they 
would  be  according  to  actual  age.  Some  have  been  allowed  to 
"skip"  grades.  Often  the  intelligence  of  these  children  is 
underestimated,  and  still  more  often  teachers  and  parents  are 
prevented  by  tradition  and  custom  from  allowing  them  to  go 
beyond  the  work  which  seems  to  be  suitable  to  their  ages.  On 
the  other  hand,  parents  not  infrequently  insist  that  a  child  is 
capable  of  advancement,  when  the  school  records  plainly  show 
that  he  is  not. 

Here  again  psychological  tests  are  of  great  assistance. 
With  the  child's  mental  age  known,  teachers,  parents,  and 
principals  will  not  need  to  rely  upon  personal  opinion,  and  the 
child's  course  can  be  based  upon  scientific  facts. 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  CHILDREN.  215 

Typical  cases  found.  The  following  cases  are  representa- 
tive of  school  children  of  superior  mentality.  Both  of  these, 
and  many  others,  were  examined  during  the  progress  of  the 
survey. 

Lucile  R. — Age  13.  Mentality  about  16.  Is  in  the 
seventh  grade.  With  special  instruction  for  a  time  could 
be  doing  the  work  of  the  second  year  in  high  school. 
Temperamentally  pleasant,  and  much  devoted  to  her  work. 
In  good  health,  not  nervous,  and  offers  no  special  diffi- 
culty, except  that  the  work  of  the  seventh  grade  is  too 
easy  for  her.  Is  from  a  home  where  less  than  average 
opportunities  are  available.  Father  "does  not  believe"  in 
high  school  training,  and  expects  to  remove  Lucile  from 
school  when  she  has  completed  the  eighth  grade. 

George  N. — Age  9.  Mentality  about  13.  Is  in  fourth 
grade.  From  an  average  home.  Has  been  well  trained 
in  politeness  and  'obedience.  Could  be  doing  the  work  of 
which  any  normal  child  of  12  or  13  years  would  be  capable. 
In  excellent  physical  condition. 

We  little  know  what  immense  possibilities  lie  in  these  and 
other  gifted  children.  Many  cases  of  this  kind  are  on  record, 
and  too  often  insufficient  attention  is  given  in  the  conserva- 
tion of  these  possibilities.  In  some  instances,  capabilities  just 
as  remarkable  have  been  found,  but  in  some  special  direction, 
such  as  music,  art,  etc.  It  is  of  the  greatest  importance  that 
children  who  early  in  life  show  such  ability  should  be  educated 
according  to  their  levels  of  intelligence,  rather  than  be  held 
back  with  other  children  of  the  same  age. 

The  problem  of  delinquency.  This  is  fundamentally  a 
problem  for  the  public  schools  to  handle.  Many  boys  and 
girls  are  now  in  our  reformatories  and  juvenile  institu- 
tions who  might  have  been  saved  through  vocational  guidance 
and  other  provisions  which  the  public  schools  should  have 
made  for  them.  It  is  generally  recognized  that  the  feeble- 
minded child  is  a  potential  delinquent.  The  minds  of  these 
children  will  always  remain  like  those  of  young  children,  and 


216  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

consequently  they  will  have  neither  the  ability  nor  the  desire 
to  resist  the  temptations  which  cause  their  downfall.  Even 
some  children  of  normal  mentality  are  weak  in  will  power  or 
have  emotional  characteristics  which  lead  to  crime. 

In  1910  there  were  25,000  children  in  institutions  for  de- 
linquents. Of  these,  14,000  had  been  committed  in  less  than 
one  year.  Not  less  than  one-third  of  these  are  feeble-minded ; 
and  not  less  than  one-half  are  mentally  retarded  to  such  a 
degree  that  this  deficiency  would  account  for  their  delin- 
quency. There  are  fully  12,000  who  do  not  belong  where  they 
have  been  placed,  and  for  whom  no  form  of  punishment  can 
be  of  great  benefit.  Many,  when  released,  will  again  enter 
lives  of  crime,  and  will  spend  many  of  their  later  years  in 
prison.  Hence  the  responsibility  of  the  public  school  in  the 
classification  and  guidance  of  children  who  exhibit  these  ten- 
dencies. 

'Summary  of  recommendations.  As  a  result  of  the  studies 
recorded  in  this  chapter  the  following  recommendations  are 
made : 

1.  That   a   new  special  school,   for  ungraded  work,   be 
erected.     This  should  contain  not  less  than  15  rooms,  and  20 
would  be  a  better  number. 

2.  That  the  principal  of  the  ungraded  school  be  given 
such  clerical  assistance  as  to  permit  him  to  direct  the  work  of 
the  psychological  laboratory,  and  to  have  direction  over  all 
ungraded  rooms  in  the  city. 

3.  That  there  be  established  not  less  than  15  ungraded 
rooms  in  regular  schools,  in  addition  to  the  Batavia  teaching 
which  is  now  provided  for.    It  would  be  still  better  if  at  least 
one  such  room  were  provided  in  connection  with  each  large 
school  in  the  city. 

4.  That  trained  teachers  be  secured  for  this  ungraded 
school  work. 

5.  That  no  ungraded  room  contain  more  than  15  pupils 
permanently  enrolled. 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  CHILDREN.  217 

6.  That  in  providing  for  ungraded  rooms,  especially  in 
new  buildings,  the  plan  of  the  standard  room,  as  outlined  'by 
Dr.  G-oddard,  be  followed  as  closely  as  possible. 

7.  That  special  classes,  wherever  practicable,  be  estab- 
lished for  gifted  children,  or  that  some  plan  *be  adopted  by 
means  of  which  they  may  make  more  rapid  progress  through 
the  course  of  study. 

8.  That   greater  attention  be   given  to  the  problem   of 
children  who  show  evidences  of  becoming  socially  undesirable. 


PART  III 

Buildings  and  Health 


THE  SCHOOL  PLANT.  221 

CHAPTER  X. 
THE  SCHOOL  PLANT. 

(Terman.) 

The  present  buildings.  Of  the  34  buildings  at  present  in 
use,  30  belong  to  an  obsolete  type  'of  school  architecture.  The 
heating,  lighting  and  ventilation  of  most  of  these  buildings  are 
unsatisfactory.  There  are  not  enough  class  rooms  to  accom- 
modate the  children.  Dark,  damp,  and  dingy  basement  rooms 
which  are  totally  unfit  for  human  occupancy  are  used  as  class* 
rooms,  as  are  also  poorly  lighted  and  ill-ventilated  halls.  Many 
o'f  the  rooms  used  for  domestic  science  are  objectionable,  both 
from  the  hygienic  and  the  aesthetic  point  of  view.  There  are 
hardly  any  assembly  rooms.  There  are  no  school  baths  in 
any  primary  or  grammar  grade  school.  The  toilet  arrange- 
ments are  in  many  cases  unsanitary  and  unsightly.  The  jan- 
itor service  is  partly  good  and  partly  bad.  A  few  of  the  sites 
are  not  well  suited  to  school  purposes,  and  in  the  case  of  more 
than  half  the  schools  the  playground  space  is  extremely  inade- 
quate. These  and  other  items  relating  to  the  school  plant  war- 
rant individual  treatment  in  this  report. 

The  school  sites.  A  school  is  not  properly  located  when  it 
is  in  too  close  proximity  to  railroads,  car  lines,  streets,  noisy  fac- 
tories, saloons,  or  other  otherwise  morally  objectionable  places. 
It  is  also  necessary,  in  selecting  a  school  site,  to  take  account 
of  possible  shifts  of  population  and  of  possible  objectionable 
changes  which  may  later  take  place  in  the  environment.  Above 
all,  playgrounds  of  adequate  size  should  be  obtained  before  the 
increase  in  value  of  the  surrounding  real  estate  renders  this 
prohibitive. 

Little  adverse  criticism  can  be  made  as  to  the  location  of 
the  school  sites  except  in  two  or  three  cases.  Two  railroad 
lines  within  a  block  of  the  Lincoln  building  detract  from  this 


222  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

site,  and  a  few  others  are  located  rather  closer  to  street  car 
lines  than  is  desirable. 

There  is  no  school  located  where  the  surrounding  popula- 
tion seems  likely  to  decrease  to  a  point  which  would  render 
the  building  or  any  part  of  it  unnecessary.  Unfortunately, 
however,  there  has  not  'always  been  sufficient  foresight  in 
anticipating  the  increase  of  needs  incident  to  the  growth  of 
population.  Many  of  the  school  sites  are  so  small  as  to  make 
it  impossible  to  locate  the  buildings  the  requisite  distance  from 
the  street,  or  to  provide  playground  facilities  for  the  children. 

Size  of  school  grounds.  In  a  city  no  larger  and  no  more 
crowded  than  Salt  Lake  City  a  school  site  ought  to  contain  not 
less  than  200  square  feet  for  each  child.  This  rule  will  require 
about  five  acres  for  a  site  which  may  reasonably  be  expected 
sometime  to  accommodate  1000  to  1200  pupils.  In  order  to 
provide  for  possible  increases  in  attendance  and  enlargement 
o'f  buildings,  every  new  school  site  provided  ought  to  contain, 
if  possible,  not  less  than  five  acres.  The  very  minimum  which 
should  be  regarded  permissible  even  in  a  large  city  is  100 
square  feet  of  a  playground  space  for  each  child.  Even  the  city 
of  London  has  made  this  amount  the  legal  minimum. 

The  figures  of  Table  39  show  how  far  many  of  the  Salt 
Lake  City  school  grounds  fall  below  the  minimum.  The  figures 
given  are  based  on  the  entire  area  of  the  school  site,  inclusive 
of  the  ground  on  which  the  building  is  located.  If  the  area  of 
the  building  had  been  deducted  the  figures  would  have  been  in 
most  cases  very  greatly  reduced. 


THE  SCHOOL  PLANT.  223 

TABLE  NO.  39. 
SIZE  OF  PRESENT  SCHOOL  SITES. 

Group  I.     Less  than  100  sq.  ft.  per  child. 

Sq.  ft. 

School.                                               Enrollment.  per  child. 

Emerson   1,090  40 

Grant 783  69 

Fremont    302  74 

Oquirrh 724  75 

Longfellow 352  77 

Lafayette    853  84 

Lowell 615  88 

Franklin 615  93 

Wasatch    780  95 

Hamilton    710  96 

Total  enrollment  in  this  group,  6824. 

Group  II.     100  to  130  sq.  ft.  per  child. 

Sq.  ft. 

School.                                               Enrollment.  per  child. 

Webster 719  102 

Sumner 756  108 

Lincoln   450  112 

Forest   560  129 

Jefferson 760  129 

Poplar  Grove 417  130 

Total  enrollment  of  Group  II,  3662. 

Group  III.    170  to  200  sq.  ft.  per  child. 

Sq.  ft. 

School.                                               Enrollment.  per  child. 

Jackson   802  171 

Riverside  820  189 

Irving   291  189 

Monroe   320  200 

Total  enrollment  of  Group  III,  2233. 


SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 


TABLE  NO.  39,  CONTINUED. 
Group  IV.     Above  200  sq.  ft.  per  child. 


'School. 
Washington 
Onequa  . .  . 
Ensign  .... 


Enrollment. 
721 
436 
421 


East  High 1,299 

Bonneville 105 

Hawthorne  538 

Bryant 300 

West  High 870 

Whittier   750 

Twelfth 96 

Training  362 

Total  enrollment  of  Group  IV,  5668. 


Sq.  ft. 
per  child. 

223 

256 

517 

385 

403 

404 

412 

500 

522 

567 
1,037 


OVER  200  5QJT.  PERCHILD 
170 -ZOO  SQ.FT.  PER  CHILD 
100-130  SQ.fT  PER  CHILD 


LESS  THAN  100  SQ.FT.  PERCHILD 


FIG.  37.     SHOWING  PERCENTAGE  OF  CHILDREN  HAV- 
ING PLAYGROUNDS  OF  VARIOUS  SIZES. 


THE  SCHOOL  PLANT.  225 

The  preceding  diagram  shows  the  percentage  distribution 
of  children  among  the  sites  of  these  four  sizes: 

It  is  a  pleasure  to  note  that  the  last  three  buildings  erected, 
Whittier,  Hawthorne,  and  East  High,  all  have  ample  grounds. 
This  is  also  true  of  the  two  now  being  built  in  the  vicinity  of 
East  High  School,  but  it  is  not  true  of  Jefferson,  which  was 
erected  only  five  years  ago. 

Nowhere  else  in  the  school  system  is  forethought  more 
important  than  in  the  selection  of  well-located  and  ample  sites, 
in  anticipation  of  future  needs.  Blessings  or  tragedy  hangs 
upon  the  choice.  Some  of  the  cramped  sites  listed  above  could 
not  now  foe  enlarged  except  at  prohibitive  cost.  In  the  case  of 
others,  additions  are  still  feasible  -and  ought  to  be  made  at  the 
earliest  possible  moment. 

Waste  of  space  in  buildings.  Some  or  all  of  the  class 
rooms  or  halls  in  nearly  every  building  have  an  excess  of  floor 
space,  and  the  ceilings  of  practically  all  the  -buildings  are  from 
li/2  to  2y2  feet  higher  than  the  standard.  This  is  true  to  a 
certain  extent  even  in  the  new  buildings,  barring  possibly  the 
East  High  and  the  Hawthorne  school.  The  best  size  for  a 
class  room  is  22x28  feet,  with  a  12  foot  ceiling.  The  greatest 
size  permissible  is  24x30  feet,  with  (a  13  foot  ceiling.  Class 
rooms  oif  30x33  or  30x30,  with  a  ceiling  of  14  feet,  are  almost 
the  rule  in  Salt  Lake  City.  Measurements  of  the  floor  area  of 
all  the  class  rooms  in  the  city,  which  were  made  by  the  teach- 
ers at  the  request  of  the  survey,  gave  the  facts  set  forth  in 
Figure  38,  reproduced  on  the  following  page. 

The  intent  of  such  construction  was  doubtless  that  of 
giving  children  and  teachers  ample  room  for  carrying  on  their 
work.  The  result,  however,  is  a  building  which  in  many  re- 
spects is  far  from  satisfactory  for  the  work  of  the  school.  A 
class  room  needlessly  large  is  more  costly  to  heat,  and  usually 
not  as  well  lighted.  The  children  in  the  rear  seats  have  to 
strain  their  eyes  to  see  what  is  written  on  the  blackboard,  and 
the  teacher  has  to  strain  her  voice  to  make  it  fill  the  room. 
Order  is  more  difficult  to  maintain.  Moreover,  the  large 


226 


SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 


FIG.  38.     SHOWING  PERCENTAGE  OP  SCHOOL  ROOMS 
HAVING  VARIOUS  AREAS. 

room  offers  a  constant  temptation  to  enlarge  classes  'beyond 
the  point  where  good  teaching  is  possible. 

The  result  of  such  excess.  The  cost  of  such  excess  space 
is  no  mean  item.  A  room  30x30  has  nearly  50  per  cent  more 
floor  space  than  the  standard  room  of  22x28,  and  one  of  27x30 
has  an  excess  floor  area  of  about  25  per  cent.  A  room  30x30, 
with  a  14  foot  ceiling,  has  70  per  cent  excess  of  cubical  con- 
tents as  compared  with  one  which  is  22x28x12 ;  or  an  excess 
of  56  per  cent  as  compared  with  one  24x28x12.  The  cost  of 
a  school  room  is  almost  (though  not  quite)  in  proportion  to  its 


THE  SCHOOL  PLANT.  227 

cubical  contents,  and  the  cost  of  building  400  school  rooms 
having  an  average  excess  of  30  per  cent  in  cubical  contents 
above  the  standard  has  certainly  involved  a  waste  of  more 
than  a  half  million  dollars. 

The  practical  outcome  of  extravagance  in  space  is  likely  to 
be  the  omission  of  much-needed  special  rooms  and  equipment, 
and  we  are  now  in  better  position  to  understand  why,  in  the 
schools  of  Salt  Lake  City,  the  domestic  science  work  is  usually 
relegated  to  some  dingy  corner  which  is  unfit  for  regular  class 
purposes;  why  manual  training  must  so  often  be  carried  on 
by  artificial  light;  why  there  are  no  assembly  rooms;  why 
toilet  arrangements  are  so  inadequate  and  cheap;  why  there 
is  not  a  single  bath  or  a  single  nurse's  room  in  the  primary 
or  grammar  schools;  why  approximately  2000  children  are 
compelled  to  attend  school  in  dark  cellars.  Reasonable  econ- 
omy in  school  planning  would  have  supplied  most  if  not  all 
of  these  unfortunate  omissions. 

Much  space  is  also  wasted  in  halls.  Instead  of  the  stan- 
dard width  of  12  to  14  feet,  a  width  of  16  to  24  feet  is  found 
in  a  majority  of  the  buildings.  The  Washington  and  Lowell 
schools  have  each  two  halls  approximately  24x100  feet.  The 
wasted  space  would  'have  given  each  school  four  or  five  addi- 
tional class  rooms,  or  a  commodious  assembly  room. 

Lighting.  Following  is  a  statement  of  the  cardinal  laws 
of  school  lighting,  and  of  the  departures  therefrom  in  the 
schools  of  Salt  Lake  City. 

1.  The  light  should  enter  from  one  side  of  the  class  room 
only,  and  at  the  pupils'  left. 

If  it  enters  from  two  sides  there  are  sure  to  'be  annoying 
cross-lights  in  certain  parts  of  the  room,  and  if  there  are  win- 
dows in  the  rear  the  teacher  is  compelled  to  face  a  direct  light. 
This  is  trying  to  the  nerves  and  injurious  to  the  health. 

The  following  table  shows  existing  conditions  in  the  Salt 
Lake  City  school  buildings. 


228  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

TABLE  NO.  40. 
THE  LIGHTING  OP  SALT  LAKE  CITY  SCHOOL  ROOMS'. 

Lighted  from  left  only,  96  rooms  (Standard  method). 

Lighted  from  left  and  rear,  250  rooms 
Lighted  'from  right  and  rear,  3  rooms 
Lighted  from  left  and  right,  3  rooms 
Lighted  from  right  only,  2  rooms 


Lighted  from  rear  only,  1  room 

Lighted  on  three  sides  46  rooms 

Lighted  partly  from  front,        39  rooms 
More  than  half  of  light  from 
rear,  120  rooms 


All  incorrectly 
lighted. 


From  this  table  it  is  seen  that  less  than  22  per  cent  of  the 
rooms  are  lighted  'from  the  proper  direction,  and  over  88  per 
cent  are  improperly  lighted.  Even  the  buildings  erected  four  to 
five  years  ago  (Jefferson,  Poplar  Grove,  and  the  new  parts  of 
Riverside  and  Wasatch)  have  a  large  proportion  of  their  rooms 
lighted  from  two  sides.  68.2  per  cent  of  all  the  teachers  in  the 
city  are  compelled  to  face  light  entering  from  the  rear  win- 
dows. In  27.3  per  cent  of  the  rooms,  more  than  half  the  light 
enters  from  the  rear.  Questioned  as  to  the  effects  on  health 
resulting  from  facing  the  light,  77  teachers  stated  that  ill 
effects  had  been  experienced,  and  15  of  these  stated  that  the 
health  had  been  seriously  injured  in  this  way. 

It  must  not  be  inferred  that  the  22  per  cent  o>f  rooms  hav- 
ing light  on  the  left  only  are  properly  lighted.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  hardly  'any  of  them  are.  Some  of  them  are  lighted  from 
the  north  or  south,  some  have  too  little  window  space,  others 
have  windows  placed  too  far  forward. 

2.  The  building  should  be  so  oriented  that  the  windows 
of  each  class  room  are  on  the  east  or  west  side,  not  the  north 
or  south.  Rooms  lighted  from  the  north  are  too  dark  on 
cloudy  days  and  are  less  healthful  than  rooms  which  receive 


THE  SCHOOL  PLANT.  229 

direct  sunlight  a  part  of  the  day.  If  the  room  is  lighted  from 
the  south,  however,  the  direct  sunlight  enters  during  the  entire 
school  day  and,  falling  on  the  desks  of  pupils,  is  annoying  and 
injurious  to  the  eyes.  In  such  cases  the  shades  are  likely  to 
be  drawn  until  the  light  admitted  is  too  small  in  amount,  and 
badly  distributed.  A  possible  exception  in  favor  of  south 
lighting  may  be  made  in  the  case  of  kindergarten  rooms,  but 
in  no  other  class  rooms. 

In  Salt  Lake  City  no  rational  attention  seems  to  have  been 
given  to  the  matter  of  orientation,  previous  to  the  last  three  or 
four  buildings  erected.  If  anything,  south  lighting  seems  to 
have  been  preferred.  The  Washington  and  Lowell  schools 
were  evidently  planned  with  the  idea  of  giving  the  sun  direct 
access  to  as  many  rooms  as  possible  throughout  the  day.  On 
the  other  hand,  there  are  dozens  of  rooms  in  the  city  which 
never  get  a  ray  of  direct  sunlight,  and  some  of  these  rooms  are 
in  damp  basements. 

The  only  way  to  secure  the  proper  orientation  of  class 
rooms  is  to  construct  long  narrow  school  buildings,  running 
north  and  south.  Those  of  Salt  Lake  City  are  predominantly 
of  the  square  type,  with  eight  to  twelve  corner  rooms  lighted 
on  one  side  and  rear  and  a  number  of  side  rooms  in  between 
the  corner  rooms.  The  side  rooms  are  lighted  in  about  equal 
number  ifrom  the  north,  east,  south,  or  west. 

3.  The  window  space  should  be  between  20  per  cent  and 
25  per  cent  of  the  floor  space. 

The  following  tabular  statement  shows  the  number  of 
rooms  having  various  percentages  of  window  space  as  com- 
pared with  floor  space. 


230 


SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 


19  have  less  than  10  per  cent 
54  have  between  10  and  15  per  cent 
154  have  between  15  and  20  per  cent 


Below  standard. 


139  have  between  20  and  25  per  cent     Standard 
72  have  25  per  cent  or  more  j  Above  standard. 

The  following  drawing  shows  the  same  facts  graphically. 


Z0%  OR  OVER 


'LESS  THAN 
20 


FIG.  39.     SHOWING  PROPORTION  OF  CLASSROOMS  HAV- 
ING SUFFICIENT  AND  INSUFFICIENT  WINDOW 
AREA  IN  PROPORTION  TO  FLOOR  SPACE. 


THE  SCHOOL  PLANT.  231 

While  these  figures  show  that  a  number  of  rooms  are 
seriously  deficient  in  lighting  area,  it  is  seen  that  nearly  half 
are  generously  supplied  with  windows.  Taken  -alone,  how- 
ever, these  figures  are  misleading.  A  room  may  have  more 
than  the  standard  amount  of  window  space  and  still  be  badly 
lighted,  owing  to  such  factors  as  the  improper  location  of  win- 
dows, north  orientation,  unsuitable  colors  for  walls  and  ceiling, 
the  improper  use  of  window  shades,  or  the  presence  of  trees, 
buildings,  or  other  light  obstructions  near  the  windows.  These 
are  the  critical  factors  in  the  school  lighting  of  Salt  Lake  City, 
and  in  by  far  the  larger  proportion  of  rooms  they  more  than 
offset  the  advantages  of  liberal  window  space.  No  fewer  than 
146  of  the  440  rooms,  or  33  per  cent,  have  trees,  walls,  or  other 
light  obstructions  within  50  feet  of  the  windows  and  as  high 
as  the  tops  of  the  windows.  This  is  also  true  for  72  of  the  154 
rooms  which  have  a  window  area  below  standard. 

4.  The  windows  should  not  extend  lower  than  3y2  feet 
from  the  floor,  and  they  should  reach  within  a  few  inches  of 
the  ceiling.  They  should  begin  within  18  inches  of  the  rear 
end  of  the  left  wall,  and  approach  no  closer  than  7  or  8  feet 
to  the  front  of  the  room. 

The  purpose  0f  these  rules  is  to  control  the  direction  from 
which  the  light  shall  come.  The  only  light  which  does  any 
good  is  that  which  strikes  the  pupil's  book,  and  at  an  angle 
not  too  acute.  Light  which  strikes  the  pupil's  eyes  directly  is 
not  only  of  no  value,  but  actually  prevents  clear  vision. 

Im  this  city  the  bottom  of  the  windows  is  usually  about 
the  right  height  from  the  floor,  but  there  is  often  too  much 
dead  wall  space  above  the  top.  A  far  worse  fault,  however, 
and  a  more  common  one,  is  the  improper  distribution  of  win- 
dows along  the  side  of  the  room.  Even  in;  the  few  rooms  which 
are  lighted  entirely  from  the  left  there  is  ordinarily  too  much 
dead  wall  space  behind  the  back  window,  and  too  little  in 
front  of  the  front  window.  That  is,  the  window  area  as  a 
whole  is  placed  too  far  'forward.  Architects  are  prone  to  do 
this  in  order  to  secure  symmetry,  but  it  should  in  no  case  be 


232  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

permitted.  Even  the  last  buildings  built  in  'Salt  Lake  City 
have  this  fault  in  practically  every  room.  In  many  rooms  the 
lighting  would  be  better  if  the  front  window  were  kept  perma- 
nently shaded. 

6.  The  windows  should  be  separated  by  mullions  not 
much  more  than  eight  inches  wide.     This  is  to  prevent  trouble- 
some wedges  of  shadow  caused  by  the  dead  space  between  the 
windows.     The  rule  is  broken  in  nearly  every  school  room  of 
the  city.     Often  the  wall  space  between  the  windows  is  three 
to  five  feet  wide,  and  the  pupils  who  sit  in  the  shadows  thus 
produced  are  greatly  handicapped. 

7.  The  color  of  the  walls  should  be  a  light  buff  or  a  very 
light  green,  and  that  of  the  ceiling  should  be  white  or  an 
extremely  light  cream. 

The  reason  for  this  rule  is  obvious.  Dark  walls  and  ceil- 
ings absorb  the  light  instead  of  reflecting  it  upon  the  desks.  A 
very  light  buff  reflects  nearly  twice  as  much  light  as  a  medium 
shade  of  green. 

The  wall  and  ceiling  colors  prevailing  in  Salt  Lake  City  are 
several  shades  too  dark.  Many  a  room  which  would  be  other- 
wise reasonably  light  and  inviting  is  given  a  dark,  dismal,  and 
cheerless  aspect.  This  effect  is  often  enhanced  by  blackened 
streaks  of  dirt  and  smoke  which  have  come  from  the  inlet 
ducts  of  the  ventilating  system.  Five  minutes  in  some  of 
these  worst  rooms  is  positively  depressing. 

A  serious  mistake  has  been  made  in  adopting  a  uniform 
color  scheme  for  all  the  schools.  Badly  lighted  rooms  should 
have  walls  and  ceiling  practically  white.  Many  of  the  base- 
ment rooms  and  others  which  are  objectionable  as  regards 
lighting  could  have  their  light  almost  doubled  by  proper  color 
treatment.  It  is  strongly  urged  that  practically  all  the  rooms 
in  the  city,  except  in  the  latest  schools,  be  re-tinted  at  once, 
and  under  the  direction  of  someone  who  understands  the  needs 
of  a  class  room. 

8.  Window  shades,  when  used  at  all,  should  be  trans- 
lucent, and  their  use  should  be  regulated  by  definite  rules  to 
be  followed  by  all  the  teachers. 


THE  SCHOOL  PLANT. 


233 


Shades  are  necessary  for  south  windows,  but  should  ordi- 
narily not  be  permitted  in  rooms  depending  solely  on  north 
light ;  nor  are  they  seriously  needed  on:  east  or  west  windows. 
If  present  they  are  often  drawn  over  windows  which  ought  to 
be  left  unobstructed,  hence  the  need  for  rules  to  regulate  their 
use. 

In  this  city  the  shades  are  uniformly  bad,  all  being  opaque, 
single,  and  fastened  at  the  top  of  the  window.  They  can  not 
be  drawn,  even'  part  way,  without  cutting  off  the  best  light  of 
the  room,  namely,  that  which  comes  from  the  upper  part  of 


FIG.  40.     THE  ' '  BISHOP  HARMAN ' '  PHOTOMETER,  USED 

IN  THE  EXAMINATION  OF  THE  LIGHTING 

OF  SCHOOL  ROOMS. 


234 


SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 


the  window.  What  is  worse,  the  teachers  gave  no  evidence  of 
having  had  any  instruction  in  regard  to  the  proper  use  of 
shades.  In  many  rooms  which  would  be  too  dark  under  the 
best  conditions,  and  where  no  excuse  exists  for  cutting  off  'any 
of  the  light  at  any  time,  shades  were  found  drawn  clear  to  the 
bottom  of  the  windows.  In  one  room,  about  16x30  feet  in  size, 
having  only  two  windows  and  those  directly  behind  the  backs 
of  the  pupils,  one  window  was  found  entirely  darkened  on  a 
cloudy  day. 

Light  tests.  Though  the  facts  set  forth  'above  ought  to 
be  convincing,  we  are  able  to  add  to  those  the  results  o'f  light 
tests  in  32  rooms.  A  "Bishop  Harman"  photometer  was  used. 
It  is  a  photometer  of  recent  English  make,  and  is  well  adapted 
for  the  purpose.  The  following  table  gives  the  results  of  the 
tests  made. 

TABLE  NO.  41. 

SHOWING  RESULTS  OP  LIGHT  TESTS  ON  DARKEST 
DESK  OF  32  CLASSROOMS. 


Name 
of 
School 

No.  of 
Room 

Time 
of  day 

Weather 
conditions 

Light  in  foot  candles 
(min.  permissible  is  9 
feet  candles) 

Lincoln    

6 
7 
1 
5 
1 
5 
C 
9 
5 
2 
5 
7 
12 
3 
1 
2 
4 
3 
3 
5 
7 
3 
29 
As'ly 
36 
10 
1 
20 
22 
isemt 
No? 

11:15 
11:20 
11:25 
11:30 
2:30 
3:00 
3:10 
2:00 
2:10 
2:00 
2:10 
2:15 
2:20 
3:00 
3:10 
3:15 
3:20 
3:30 
11:30 
11  :40 
11:45 
11:00 
3:40 
3:45 
3:50 
3:15 
3:20 
3:25 
3:30 
10:00 
11:00 

partly  cloudy 
partly  cloudy 
partly  cloudy 
partly  cloudy 
cloudy 
cloudy 
cloudy 
cloudy 
cloudy 
cloudy 
cloudy 
cloudy 
cloudy 
cloudy 
cloudy 
cloudy 
cloudy 
partly  cloudy 
partly  cloudy 
partly  cloudy 
partly  cloudy 
clear 
clear 
clear 
clear 
clear 
clear 
clear 
clear 
clear 
clear 

5.5 
4.5 
2. 
3.5 
3. 
2.5 
8. 
2. 
2.5 
2.5 
4. 
1.5 
2. 
1.5 
2. 
1.5 

L 

4. 
4.5 
3.5 
5. 
1. 
1.5 
2.5 
3. 
4. 
3.5 
2. 
3.5 

Lincoln    

Lincoln    

Lincoln    .        .  . 

Riverside 

Webster 

Webster 

Grant  

Grant  

Longfellow    .... 
Longfellow    .... 
Long-fellow  
Longfellow  
Franklin     

Franklin     ....;. 
Franklin     

Franklin 

Poplar   Grove    .  . 
Bryant    
Bryant 

Bryant     
Lowell     

Monroe    
Monroe    
Monroe 

Lafeyette 

Lafayette    
Lafayette    

Lafayette    

Jackson    .  .No?  b< 
Fremont   .  . 

THE  SCHOOL  PLANT.  235 

The  above  tests  were  nearly  all  made  while  classes  were 
in  session.  Window  shades  were  left  as  they  were  'found.  The 
rooms  selected  for  the  tests  are  among  the  darkest  in  the  city, 
but  they  do  not  include  anything  like  all  of  those  which  are 
very  badly  lighted.  About  10  per  cent  of  the  schoolrooms  in 
the  city  use  artificial  light  a  part  of  the  time,  and  seven  rooms 
all  the  time.  The  method  of  artificial  lighting  is  unsatisfactory. 
The  lights  are  not  numerous  enough  and  they  are  usually  not 
properly  distributed.  Often  they  are  placed  so  that  the  light 
strikes  the  pupil  directly  in  the  face.  The  light  shades  are  also 
unsatisfactory.  If  the  walls  and  ceilings  were  of  a  lighter  color 
it  would  perhaps  be  preferable  to  use  the  indirect  system 
where  artificial  lighting  is  necessary. 

Heating:  While  the  heating  plants  in  general  use  would 
seem  to  be  well  suited  to  the  climate  and  the  type  of  school 
buildings,  there  are  individual  rooms  in  many  buildings  which, 
according  to  the  statements  of  principals  and  teachers,  are  not 
properly  heated.  The  following  are  some  of  the  chief  com- 
plaints voiced:  Not  enough  heat  (Monroe,  Franklin,  Lincoln, 
Preemont  and  West  High)  ;  heat  not  well  distributed  (Hanv 
ilton,  Irving,  Lowell  and  'Sumner)  :  heat  especially  unsatisfact- 
ory in  basement  (Franklin).  Other  complaints  came  from 
Bonneville,  Jackson,  Longfellow,  Twelfth  and  East  High. 

Complaints  based  on  the  every-day  experience  of  princi- 
pals and  teachers  do  not,  of  course,  give  us  the  facts  about 
the  system  which  a  heating  engineer  would  want  to  know, 
but  they  do  indicate  in  a  general  way  whether  faults  exist. 
Only  extended  observation  and  tests  by  a  qualified  expert 
would  give  the  remedy  in  each  case. 

The  best  test  of  whether  a  heating  plant  is  working  sat- 
isfactorily is  the  simple  one  of  making  temperature  records 
in  each  room  of  a  building  'at  successive  hours  of  the  school 
day.  During  the  months  of  November  and  December,  1914, 
and  January,  1915,  the  school  nurses  of  Salt  Lake  City  re- 
corded thermometer  readings  in  nearly  all  the  rooms  below  the 
high  Schools.  The  temperature  of  each  room  that  had  a  ther- 


236  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

mometer  was  recorded  three  different  times,  once  in  November, 
once  in  December,  and  again  in  January.  In  all,  1157  records 
were  made.  These  were  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  survey 
staff  by  the  board  of  health,  and  their  results  are  summarized 
in  the  following  table  : 


TABLE  NO.  42. 
TEMPERATURES  FOUND  IN  'CLASSROOMS. 

Readings  below  60  degrees 14  or    1  per  cent 

Readings  either  60  or  61  degrees 25  or    2  per  cent 

Readings  either  62  or  63  degrees 56  or  4.8  per  cent 

Readings  either  64  or  65  degrees 109  or      9  per  cent 

Readings  either  66  or  67  degrees 160  or  13  per  cent 

(Standard)  readings  either  68  or  69  degrees  343  or  29  per  cent 

Readings  either  70  or  71  degrees 248  or  21  per  cent 

Readings  either  72  or  73  degrees 113  or    9  per  cent 

Readings  either  74  or  75  degrees 61  or    5  per  cent 

Readings  either  76  or  77  degrees 14  or    1  per  cent 

Readings  either  78  or  79  degrees 7  or   .6  per  cent 

Readings  either  80  or  above 7  or  .6-  per  cent 

« 

If  we  call  68  to  69  degrees  standard,  it  is  seen  that  only 
29  per  cent  of  the  records  are  entirely  satisfactory.  If  we  de- 
fine standard  as  everything  in  the  range  from  66  degrees  to 
71  degrees,  inclusive,  we  have  63  per  cent  of  the  records  sat- 
isfactory. Even  on  this  liberal  basis,  considerably  more  than 
a  third  of  the  rooms  were  improperly  heated  at  the  time  the 
records  were  taken,  and  what  was  true  on  those  days  doubt- 
less holds  for  most  of  the  other  days  of  the  school  year. 
Members  of  the  survey  staff  repeatedly  entered  school  rooms 
which  had  the  stifling  temperature  of  75  to  80  degrees.  Judg- 
ing from  the  records,  we  may  conclude  that  more  than  1,200 
children  (more  exactly  7.2  per  cent  of  the  number  attending) 
are  daily  subjected  to  suffocating  temperatures  above  74 
degrees.  It  is  little  wonder  that  20  per  cent  are  subject  to 


THE  SCHOOL  PLANT. 


237 


frequent  colds,   or  that  more  than  8  per  cent  have   chronic 
nose  or  throat  trouble.     (See  Figure  43,  page  280.) 

It  is  evident  from  the  above  facts  that  either  the  ther- 
mostats need  some  attention  or  else  the  method  of  their  su- 
pervision by  janitors ;  probably  both.  Professional  training  of 
janitors  and  strict  supervision  of  their  work  b}^  the  school 
principals  would  doubtless  increase  materially  the  effective- 
ness of  the  heating  systems. 


FIG.  41.     SHOWING  FREQUENCY  OF  DIFFERENT  TEM- 
PERATURES' IN  CLASSROOMS. 


238  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

Ventilation.  The  plenum  'system,  aspiration,  and  natural 
ventilation  are  almost  equally  employed.  The  East  High 
School  has  the  exhaust  system.  Those  depending  entirely  on 
natural  ventilation  'are  Bonneville,  Irving,  Jordan,  Forest  and 
W'hittier  Annexes,  Lake  Breeze,  Twelfth,  and  West  High 
(main  building). 

Although  time  was  not  available  for  making  tests,  the 
fact  was  evident  that  the  ventilation  of  many  of  the  schools 
could  not  be  satisfactory.  This  is  of  course  necessarily  true 
of  those  buildings  having  only  natural  ventilation,  and  it  is 
probably  true  of  many  of  the  others.  There  is  no  satisfactory 
system  of  ventilation  for  school  buildings  which  does  not  em- 
ploy some  mechanical  means  of  driving  the  air  in  as  it  is 
needed.  The  gravity  system  is  satisfactory  only  when  the 
temperature  of  the  air  outside  the  building  is  at  least  as 
low  as  thirty  degrees.  When  the  weather  is  warmer  than 
this  no  gravity  system  ever  devised  will  afford  the  desired 
circulation  of  air.  Each  child  should  be  furnished  with  at 
least  2,000  cubic  feet  of  air  per  hour  (the  standard  for  high 
school  pupils  is  2,500  cubic  feet  per  hour),  and  this  is  of 
course  just  as  necessary  in  warm  as  in  cold  weather.  In 
weather  which  is  much  above  "freezing,  however,  a  building 
which  depends  on  the  gravity  system  will  have  very  much  less 
than  the  amount  of  air  renewal.  The  efficiency  of  natural 
ventilation,  which  is  dou'btful  at  'best,  is  also  greatly  reduced 
when  the  difference  between  the  indoor  and  the  outdoor  tem- 
perature is  not  very  great. 

Mechanical  means  are  therefore  necessary  for  accelerating 
the  rate  of  air  circulation.  For  this  purpose  either  plenum 
or  exhaust  fans,  or  both,  may  be  used.  The  exhaust  system 
alone  is  never  satisfactory,  because  of  the  impossibility  of  com- 
pletely controlling  the  source  of  supply  of  fresh  air.  Leakage 
into  the  room  occurs  at  doors  and  windows,  and  sometimes 
through  the  walls.  Often  air  is  sucked  into  the  classrooms 
from  basements,  toilets  or  other  unwholesome  quarters. 
Plenum  fans  are  the  only  means  of  controlling  the  source  of 
fresh  air. 


THE  SCHOOL  PLANT.  239 

Other  factors  in  ventilation.  However,  the  installation 
of  a  plenum  system  does  not  of  itself  guarantee  satisfactory 
ventilation.  Other  factors  of  great  importance  are  size  and 
location  of  both  inlet  and  outlet  ducts,  location  of  main  in- 
take, size  of  fan,  number,  size,  and  location  of  aspiration  flues, 
etc.  The  most  common  mistake  is  that  of  making  the  inlet  and 
outlet  duct  for  each  room  so  small  that  an  adequate  supply  of 
air  cannot  be  furnished  without  being  driven  in  at  too  high  a 
speed,  causing  a  draft.  If  the  ducts  are  not  properly  located 
there  is  no  guarantee  against  short-circuiting  or  other  fail- 
ure of  air  circulation.  If  the  main  intake  is  located  near  the 
ground,  or  near  a  dusty  street  or  playground,  the  air  driven 
in  is  likely  to  be  impure  or  dusty.  The  same  result  takes 
place  if  the  fan  room  is  not  clean,  or  if  it  is  not  separated 
from  the  boiler  room.  If  aspiration  flues  are  employed  these 
must  be  sufficiently  numerous,  and  they  must  be  properly 
located,  high,  and  well  heated  to  insure  adequate  circulation 
of  air. 

All  of  the  above  are  common  faults  in  the  ventilation 
of  school  buildings  in  Salt  Lake  City.  In  some  buildings  it 
is  doubtful  whether  the  mechanical  system  in  use  is  very 
much  more  effective  than  natural  ventilation  would  be.  Com- 
plaints from  teachers  and  principals  come  from  buildings 
with  various  types  of  ventilation.  Among  these  are  Franklin, 
Fremont,  Wasatch,  Hamilton,  Jackson,  Washington,  Onequa, 
Oquirrh,  Sumner  and  West  High. 

Poor  ventilation  common.  That  imperfect  ventilation  is 
rather  widespread  is  also  indicated  by  1,090  records  taken  by 
the  nurses,  who,  when  making  the  temperature  records  also 
reported  on  the  satisfactoriness  of  ventilation  in  each  room. 
This  was  done  in  November,  December  and  again  in  January, 
for  almost  every  schoolroom  in  the  city.  These  records  are 
based  on  the  general  impression  made  by  the  air  of  the  rooms 
upon  the  nurses,  and,  while  these  are  doubtless  less  trustworthy 
than  tests  would  have  furnished,  they  give  at  least  a  rough 


240  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

idea  as  to  the  quality  of  ventilation.  These  records  show 
the  ventilation  as  less  than  satisfactory  in  42  per  cent  of  the 
rooms,  and  bad  in  8.2  per  cent. 

Ventilation  "good"    638,  or  58.5  per  cent 

Ventilation  "fair"    362,  or  33.2  per  cent 

Ventilation   "poor"    90,  or     8.3  per  cent 

The  choice  and  control  of  a  ventilating  system  is  of  course 
bound  up  with  the  question  of  heating.  In  respect  to  neither 
heating  nor  ventilation  it  is  not  possible  here  to  set  forth  in  de- 
tail the  methods  which  should  be  followed.  Nor  should  this 
be  necessary.  A  superintendent  of  buildings,  himself  an  engi- 
neer, familiar  with  the  latest  developments  in  this  line,  and 
clothed  with  the  proper  authority,  could  be  depended  upon 
both  to  correct  the  faults  of  the  heating  and  ventilating  sys- 
tems in  use  (as  far  as  correction  is  possible)  and  to  furnish 
expert  advice  in  the  planning  of  future  buildings.  It  cannot 
be  too  strongly  emphasized  that  these  are  matters  for  the  ex- 
pert. No  board  of  education  is  competent  to  decide  questions 
either  of  heating  or  ventilation,  and  experience  also  proves 
that  it  is  far  from  safe  to  leave  the  decision  as  to  the  system 
and  details  of  arrangement  entirely  to  the  architect. 

It  is  recommended  that  in  future  buildings,  and  where- 
ever  possible  in  old  buildings,  air-washers  be  installed.  The 
discolored  walls  of  very  many  rooms  show  that  dirty  air  is 
being  forced  into  the  buildings.  Air-washers  are  not  expen- 
sive, and  they  prevent  the  breathing  of  much  injurious  dust. 
The  prevalence  of  smoke  in  the  atmosphere  of  Salt  Lake  City 
during  certain  months  of  the  year  renders  their  use  more  than 
ordinarily  urgent  in  this  city. 

It  is  also  recommended  that  adequate  arrangements  be 
made  for  the  humidification  of  the  schoolroom  air.  At  present 
no  special  effort  is  made  in  this  line.  Without  proper  humid- 
ifying apparatus  the  humidity  of  the  air  in  the  schoolroom 
is  certain  to  be  often  as  low  as  25  to  30  per  cent,  which  is 
as  dry  as  the  air  of  Sahara  Desert.  Excessive  dryness  of  the 


THE  SCHOOL  PLANT.  241 

air  causes  nervousness  and  restlessness,  and  gives  rise  to  nose 
and  throat  troubles.  Even  plants  have  a  hard  struggle  to  live 
in  such  an  atmosphere. 

Basement  and  hall  classrooms.  In  Salt  Lake  City  there 
are  seventy-four  basement  rooms  used  as  regular  classrooms, 
besides  a  few  others  which  are  used  for  special  class  pur- 
poses. Halls  are  also  utilized  'for  classes  to  the  equivalent  of 
forty-six  classrooms.  If  the  attendance  in  these  basement 
and  hall  groups  averages  30,  which  is  probably  a  low  estimate, 
it  is  seen  that  there  are  not  far  from  2,220  children  who  have 
no  proper  accommodation.  This  is  more  than  10  per  cent  of  the 
entire  enrollment. 

While  it  may  be  possible  to  defend  the  use  of  a  few  of 
the  best  basement  rooms,  such  as  those  at  the  Wasatch  school, 
there  is  no  questioning  the  fact  that  most  of  these  under- 
ground rooms  are  utterly  unfit  for  use.  By  far  the  majority 
of  them  are  dark,  gloomy,  damp,  and  ill-ventilated.  Accord- 
ing to  statements  made  by  teachers  and  principals  a  number 
of  them  are  also  improperly  heated.  'Some  are  so  dark  that 
artificial  lighting  is  necessary,  even  on  clear  days.  The  amount 
of  light  on  the  darkest  desk  of  some  of  these  rooms  was  found 
by  actual  measurement  to  be  less  than  one-fifth  the  minimum 
which  should  ever  be  permitted. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  argue  the  unfitness  of  such  dismal 
and  unhealthful  cellar  rooms  for  school  purposes.  A  city 
which  requires  children  to  attend  school  in  such  quarters  in- 
curs a  grave  responsibility.  The  children  enrolled  in  the  base- 
ment rooms  are  largely  in  the  first  and  second  grades  and 
the  kindergarten,  the  very  children  who  are  most  susceptible 
to  injury  from  unwholesome  physical  environment.  One  may 
well  wonder,  too,  whether  such  an  environment  does  not  have 
its  subtle  mental  effects,  and  whether  it  tends  to  provoke  on 
the  part  of  children  just  entering  school  the  right  outlook 
upon,  and  the  desired  attitude  toward,  things  educational. 

These  should  be  abandoned.  Steps  should  be  taken  with- 
out delay  to  abandon  the  use  of  nearly  all  of  the  basement 


242  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

rooms.  Many  of  them  could  be  made  over  into  baths,  nurse's 
rooms,  toilets,  etc.  Some,  however,  are  hardly  fit  even  for 
these  purposes.  In  future  buildings  no  basement  rooms  should 
be  provided  which  could  by  any  possibility  be  used  for  classes, 
except,  under  the  right  conditions,  rooms  for  manual  train- 
ing or  domestic  science.  "We  would  emphasize  the  phrase 
"under  right  conditions."  Most  o»f  the  basement  rooms  now 
m  use  are  unfit  even  for  manual  or  domestic  work.  Most  are 
so  thoroughly  bad  that  it  is  hard  to  say  w^hich  should  be 
abandoned  first,  but  those  of  the  following  schools  are  among 
the  worst:  Jackson,  Lincoln,  Franklin,  Sumner,  Oquirrh, 
Lowell  and  Washington.  Other  cases,  however,  are  almost  as 
urgent. 

As  already  stated,  forty-six  class  groups  recite  in  hall- 
ways. The  use  of  halls  for  class  purposes  is  hardly  less  ob- 
jectionable than  that  of  basements.  Halls  'are  less  subject  to 
dampness,  but  their  lighting,  heating  and  ventilation  are  often 
as  bad  or  worse.  The  danger  from  dust  in  much  greater,  and 
the  noise  is  likely  to  be  disturbing.  On  the  whole,  however, 
halls  'are  to  be  preferred  to  basements  when  it  is  necessary 
to  choose  between  two  such  undesirable  evils. 

Better  than  either  is  the  portable  school  house.  If  pro- 
vided in  sufficient  numbers  to  take  the  place  of  basements, 
though,  these  would  seriously  reduce  the  ground  area  avail- 
able for  play,  but  in  themselves  they  are  far  from  bad.  When 
the  ceiling  is  painted  white  they  are  well  lighted,  and  their 
ventilation  can  be  made  fairly  satisfactory  by  means  of  the 
jacketed  stove.  Those  now  in  use  have  ceilings  too  dark 
and  a  poor  type  of  stove.  Portables  are  likely  to  be  uncom- 
fortably warm  in  warm  weather,  and  the  floors  are  usually 
cold  in  winter.  With  all  of  their  faults,  however,  they  are  a 
great  improvement  over  basement  and  hall  rooms. 

School  desks.  The  main  requirements  of  school  seating 
are:  (1)  that  the  seat  should  be  the  right  height  to  permit 
the  feet  to  rest  easily  on  the  floor;  (2)  that  the  desk  should  be 
high  enough  to  render  stooping  unnecessary,  and  low  enough 


THE  SCHOOL  PLANT.  -243 

that  the  arms  will  not  'be  unduly  elevated;  and  (3)  that  the 
seat  project  under  the  edge  of  the  desk  at  two  inches.  There 
are  other  minor  requirements,  but  these  are  the  most  essen- 
tial. 

The  first  two  rules  cannot  be  followed  unless  each  room 
contains  'adjustable  desks  to  the  extent  of  about  30  per  cent 
of  the  entire  number,  or  at  least  three  sizes  of  ordinary 
desks.  It  is  never  possible  to  fit  all  the  children  o-f  a  given 
room  in  seats  of  one  size,  because  in  practically  every  class 
the  largest  children  are  from  eight  inches  to  sixteen  inches 
taller  than  the  smallest. 

Of  440  rooms  from  which  data  were  secured  in  this  city, 
284,  or  86  per  cent,  have  no  adjustable  desks,  and  only  10 
per  cent  have  10  or  over.  Even  where  adjustable  desks  have 
been  supplied  they  are  not  always  adjusted  with  the  proper 
frequency  and  care.  In  13  out  of  45  rooms  with  adjustable 
desks  the  desks  had  not  been  adjusted  since  last  December. 
At  least  twice  a  year  should  be  the  rule.  In  one  case  the  prin- 
cipal was  not  even  aware  that  certain  desks  were  adjustable, 
and  when  his  attention  wras  called  to  the  fact  he  was  evi- 
dently surprised.  The  adjusting  of  -desks  seems  to  be  left 
largely  to  the  janitors,  who,  of  course,  know  little  or  nothing 
about  the  requirements  of  school  seating  and  are  prone  to 
neglect  the  matter.  Many  of  the  rooms  lacking  adjustable 
desks  are  equipped  with  desks  of  only  one  size. 

Whether  the  third  rule  is  followed,  namely  that  the  seat 
should  project  at  least  two  inches  under  the  desk,  depends 
entirely  on  the  authority  responsible  for  putting  down  the 
seats.  It  is  of  course  as  easy  to  set  them  correctly  as  in- 
correctly. Failure  to  follow  the  rule  on  this  point  inevitably 
causes  round  shoulders  and  cramped  lungs.  And  yet,  in  Salt 
Lake  City,  the  rule  is  uniformly  and  consistently  broken.  In 
more  than  200  rooms  visited  by  the  writer  there  was  hardly  a 
desk  correctly  set. 

It  is  necessary  to  make  one  other  criticism  of  the  desks. 
Many  of  these  look  so  old  and  worn  that  the  attractiveness 


244  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

of  the  room  is  severely  marred.     The  worst  of  these,  unless    j 
they  can  be  replaced  'by  desks  of  a  better  type,  ought  to  be 
re-finished. 

In  various  respects  most  of  the  desks  now  in  use  belong  to 
an  obsolete  type.  In  the  future  purchase  of  desks  it  is  urged 
that  careful  study  be  made  of  some  of  the  modern  types 
which  are  more  satisfactory  from  the  hygienic  point  of  view. 
Though  it  should  go  without  saying,  it  needs  to  be  emphasized 
that  cheapness  in  school  desks  is  not  the  main  desiratum. 

Blackboards.    The  blackboard  space  in  practically  all  the 
schools  is  generous.     The  composition  blackboard  is  the  type 
in  general  use.    This  gives  fairly  satisfactory  results  if  kept  in 
repair,  and  if  the  room  is  not  too  damp.    Except  in  the  damp  • 
basement  rooms,  most  of  those  seen  were  in  reasonably  good 
condition.    The  slate  blackboard  is  to  be  preferred,  but  in  set- 
ting it  much  care  is  necessary  in  order  to  prevent  uneven  '] 
joints.    It  is  also  more  costly. 

Blackboards  should  reach  within  26  inches  of  the  floor 
in  the  primary  grades,  and  within  30  inches  in  the  grammar 
grades.  They  were  found  from  4  to  6  inches  too  high  in  52 
classrooms,  and  from  7  to  12  inches  too  high  in  22  classrooms. 

Cloak  rooms.  Unsightly  rows  of  coats  and  hats  disfigure 
the  halls  of  all  the  schools.  In  future  buildings  cloak  rooms 
should  be  provided,  one  for  each  classroom.  The  best  loca- 
tion for  it  is  directly  behind  the  teacher's  desk.  The  cloak 
room  should  have  no  door  entering  from  the  hall,  but  should 
be  connected  with  the  classroom  by  two  doors,  one  on  either 
side  of  the  teacher's  desk.  This  arrangement  permits  suit- 
able control  of  the  room  by  the  teacher,  and  minimizes  the 
danger  of  pilfering  and  other  annoyances.  The  cloak  room 
should  of  course  be  wrell  lighted  and  ventilated.  Ventilation 
can  be  managed  by  having  a  part  of  the  air  of  the  classroom 
circulate  (through  perforated  doors)  into  the  cloak  room  on 
its  way  to  the  outlet  ducts. 

Special  rooms.  In  order  to  be  regarded  as  strictly  mod- 
ern, a  city  school  building  should  ordinarily  have  the  follow- 


THE  SCHOOL  PLANT.  245 

ing  specially-planned  rooms:  An  assembly  room,  a  library,  a 
rest  room,  a  kindergarten  room,  a  nurse's  room,  shower  baths 
with  dressing  booths,  and  rooms  for  manual  training,  sewing, 
and  cooking.  An  art  room  is  also  desirable.  Proper  provision 
should  be  made  for  these  in  the  original  plans,  as  the  ordinary 
classroom  can  seldom  be  worked  over  satisfactorily  into  a 
special  room. 

The  kindergarten  room  (or  rooms)  should  of  course  be  on 
the  first  floor  and  should  be  extremely  well  lighted.  A  south 
exposure,  though  objectionable  for  other  classrooms,  is  well 
adapted  for  kindergartens.  The  kindergarten  (preferably 
also  the  first  grade)  should  have  its  own  toilet. 

The  rooms  to  be  used  for  cooking  should  of  course  be 
planned  for  the  special  equipment  needed  and  should  be  bright 
and  attractive.  To  use  for  this  purpose  a  room  which  is  dark, 
dingy,  and  ill-ventilated  is  subversive  of  the  very  purposes  for 
which  domestic  science  is  taught. 

The  manual  training  rooms  should  be  located  where  the 
noise  will  not  disturb  classes,  and  should  always  be  well 
lighted.  These  should  have  a  store  room  of  liberal  dimensions. 

The  library  need  not  be  large,  but  it  should  be  excep- 
tionally well  lighted  and  attractively  furnished. 

The  art  room  should  be  given  a  north  exposure,  in  order 
to  avoid  direct  sunlight,  but  it  must  have  a  large  amount  of 
lighting  surface. 

The  nurse's  room  should  be  on  the  first  floor,  and  need 
not  be  large.  It  should  have  abundant  light,  running  water, 
and  a  built-in  cabinet  for  the  storing  of  first-aid  material 
and  other  equipment. 

The  assembly  room  is  the  most  important  part  of  the 
building.  Its  inclusion  in  all  new  buildings  is  one  of  the  most 
important  steps  toward  the  "wider  use  of  the  school  plant." 
Nothing  else  about  the  building  so  operates  to  bring  the 
school  and  the  home  together.  The  total  valuation  of  the 
school  buildings  and  grounds  of  Salt  Lake  City  is  given  as 
$3,041,343.  This  investment  is  productive  only  six  hours  a 


246  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

day  for  200  days  of  the  year;  or  a  total  of  1,200  hours  per 
year.  Everything  that  promotes  increased  use  of  the  school 
plant  ought  to  be  encouraged,  and  the  assembly  room  cer- 
tainly belongs  in  this  catagory.  Some  of  the  most  important 
considerations  in  its  planning  are  size,  easy  accessibility,  and 
safety  from  fire. 

Special  schoolrooms  in  this  city  are  usually  conspicuous 
for  their  absence.  Only  a  small  minority  of  the  buildings  are 
provided  with  an  assembly  room.  Rooms  used  for  cooking, 
sewing,  manual  training,  'and  library  are  seldom  adapted  to 
the  purpose,  -and  are  often  rooms  which  are  too  dark,  damp, 
or  inaccessible  to  be  used  for  regular  classes.  The  buildings 
constructed  in  the  last  two  or  three  years  are  improvements 
in  this  respect,  but  there  is  still  not  a  nurse's  room  in  the 
city,  'and  not  a  bath  in  the  grades  below  the  high  school.  Nor 
do  all  of  the  recent  buildings  contain  an  assembly  room. 

Special  rooms  of  the  above  types  are  to  be  regarded  as 
necessities,  not  as  luxuries.  They  should  be  included  in  fu- 
ture school  buildings  as  a  mere  matter  of  course.  The  ar- 
gument that  they  cost  a  good  deal  of  money  has  no  weight. 
School  facilities  which  poorer  cities  can  and  do  afford  are 
surely  not  too  costly  for  Salt  Lake  City.  As  already  shown 
this  city  has  wasted  enough  money  in  uneconomical  building 
plans  to  have  supplied  most  of  the  special  rooms  needed. 

Open-air  schools.  Salt  Lake  City  is  one  of  the  'few  cities 
of  its  size  in  the  country  without  an  open-air  school.  The 
impression  seems  to  prevail  that  they  are  unnecessary  here 
because  of  the  excellence  o>f  the  climate.  There  is  absolutely 
no  ground  for  such  a  view.  Recent  and  wTide-spread  investi- 
gations justify  the  conclusion  that  in  the  schools  of  any  cli- 
mate there  are  numerous  children  with  latent  tuberculosis, 
and  many  others  who  are  predisposed  to  it.  The  disease  is 
rapidly  coming  to  be  looked  upon  as  a  "children's  disease," 
one  which  is  'acquired  by  a  large  proportion  of  children  every- 
where. There  is  reason  to  'believe  that  a  majority  of  the  cases 
which  do  not  become  "manifest"  until  adult  life  have  existed 
in  latent  form  since  childhood. 


THE  SCHOOL  PLANT.  247 

The  proportion  of  school  children  with  manifest  tubercu- 
losis is  of  course  relatively  small,  usually  not  more  than  a  half 
of  one  per  cent  of  the  total  enrollment.  Even  at  this  rate 
the  share  of  Salt  Lake  City  would  be  100.  There  is  little 
doubt  that  careful  medical  examination  of  all  the  school 
children  would  disclose  enough  tuberculous  children  to  fill 
three  or  four  open-air  classes.  California,  with  a  climate 
fully  as  unfavorable  to  tuberculosis  as  that  of  'Salt  Lake  City, 
has  its  open-air  schools  in  every  city  of  any  considerable  size. 

Many  children  who  are  not  actually  tuberculous  would 
benefit  greatly  from  such  classes.  This  includes  all  who  are 
ill-nourished,  subject  to  colds  or  bronchitis,  or  who  are  other- 
wise lacking  in  physical  resistance.  Facts  have  already  been 
presented  which  indicate  that  probably  not  far  from  two 
thousand  children  in  this  city  are  physically  a  good  deal  be- 
low normal.  There  is  little  doubt  that  the  condition  of  most 
of  these  could  be  improved  by  the  right  kind  of  school  adapta- 
tions in  their  favor.  For  hundreds  of  them,  at  least,  the  open- 
air  class  is  the  one  remedy  needed.  No  building  to  be  erected 
in  the  future  should  be  without  one  or  more  open-air  class- 
rooms. 

School  baths.  The  value  of  school  baths  deserves  es- 
pecial emphasis.  Two  shower  rooms,  one  for  boys  and  one 
for  girls,  should  be  found  in  every  new  building.  They  are 
especially  necessary  in  certain  parts  of  the  city,  and  if  possible 
they  should  yet  be  installed  in  such  schools  as  the  Fremont, 
Jackson,  Lincoln  and  Riverside.  Basement  rooms  which  are 
now  unfortunately  used  as  regular  classrooms  could  be  fitted 
up  for  this  purpose,  at  moderate  expense. 

School  baths  promote  the  health  of  the  children,  aid  in 
instilling  life-long  habits  of  personal  hygiene,  and  greatly  im- 
prove the  'atmosphere  of  the  schoolroom.  The  members  of  the 
survey  staff  visited  many  school  rooms  which  were  filled 
with  sickening  odors  from  unclean  bodies.  Even  in  the  poor- 
er countries  of  Western  Europe,  where  school  economy  is 


248  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

more  necessary  than  in  this   country,  baths  are   included  in 
all  new  school  buildings. 

Admirable  suggestions  for  planning  school  baths  are  to 
be  found  in  Dresslar's  American  Schoolhouses  published  by 
the  U.  ;S.  Bureau  of  Education,  and  in  School  Hygiene  by  the 
same  author  (Macmillan.)  Important  considerations  are 
good  light,  impervious  floor,  dressing  booths,  individual  show- 
ers for  the  older  girls,  drainage,  heating  apparatus  for  con- 
trolling the  temperature  of  the  water,  etc. 

Toilets.  Only  in  the  new  high  school  are  the  toilets  fully 
up  to  the  standard  requirements.  In  others  of  the  recently 
built  schools  they  are  not  bad.  In  most  of  the  older  build- 
ings, however,  they  are  far  from  satisfactory,  and  the  worst 
are  unfit  for  use.  "Wooden  partitions  between  urinals,  cor- 
roding metal  urinal  troughs  with  low  backs,  toilet  seats  of 
only  one  size,  inadequate  number  of  seats  and  urinals,  im- 
proper flushing,  location  in  dark  and  ill-ventilated  quarters, 
inaccessibility,  inadequate  supply  of  paper, — these  are  com- 
mon faults,  some  of  which  are  found  in  almost  every  build- 
ing, and  in  certain  sohools  all.  The  worst  toilets  should  be 
remodeled  at  once. 

One  of  the  least  excusable  faults  is  an  inadequate  num- 
ber of  seats  and  urinals.  There  should  be  one  seat  for  fifteen 
boys  and  one  for  twenty-five  girls;  and  there  should  be  one 
urinal  stall  for  twenty  boys.  One  school,  the  Sumner,  has 
less  than  :a  half  the  standard  number  of  seats  for  boys,  while 
several  others  have  much  less  than  half  the  required  num- 
ber. 

The  following  table  shows  the  number  of  boys  per  seat, 
the  number  of  boys  per  urinal,  the  number  of  girls  per  seat, 
and  the  ratio  of  window  area  to  floor  space  in  both  the  boys' 
and  the  girls'  toilets  for  each  school  in  the  city.  The  second 
figure  in  each  double  column  shows  the  percentage  of  suffic- 
iency of  the  item  in  question. 


THE  SCHOOL  PLANT. 


TABLE  NO.  43. 

SEATING,  LIGHTING  AND  TOILET  FACILITIES  IN  THE 
DIFFERENT  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS. 


NAME  OF 
SCHOOL 

Boys  per  seat 
(standard  25)  

Per  Cent  of 
sufficiency  

Boys  per  urinal 
(standard  20)  

Per  Cent  of 
sufficiency  

Girls  per  seat 
(standard  15)  

Per  cent  of 
sufficiency  

Light  ratio,  boys'  toilel 
(standard  1-5)  

Per  cent  of 
sufficiency  

Light  ratio  girls'  ... 
Toilet  (standard  1-5)  

Per  cent  of 
sufficiency  

Bonneville  
Bryant 

|18:138% 
19:131 
30:   83 
27:   92 
35:   71 
38:   65 
19:131 
39:   64 
24:104 
22:113 
19:131 
25:100 
19:131 
28:   89 
32:   78 
11:230 
26:   96 
32:   78 
21:119 
9:277 
30:   83 
26:   96 
23:108 

54:   46 
17:147 
24:104 
22:113 
31:   80 
36:   69 
27:   92 
24:    62 
14:104 

53:    37% 
30:    66 
90:   22 
27:   74 
21:   95 
51:   41 
19:105 
39:   51 
59:   33 
27:   74 
95:   21 
40:   50 
21:   41 
43:   46 
45:   44 
17:117 
26:   96 
32:   62 
21:   95 
18:111 
36:   55 
42:   48 
38:   52 

63:   31 
22:   99 
24:   83 
30:   67 
52:   38 
45:   44 
29:   69 
21:   95 
17:117 
: 

18:138% 
15:100 
23:   60 
21:   71 
35:   42 
25:   66 
13:115 
25:   66 
24:   62 
16:  93 
19:   78 
17:   88 
16:   93 
25:   66 
|28.   53 
9:166 
25:   66 
80:  18 
15:100 
9:166 
23:   65 
17:   88 
16:   93 

32:   46 
14:107 
6:250 
19:   79 
26:   57 
22:   68 
27:   55 
17:   88 
17:   88 

4/5        :400% 
4/5        :400 
1/7        :   71 
|11/50      :110 
1/18     :   27 
13/100   :   65 
12/197   :   30 
1/4        :125 
1/7       :  71 
67/652   :   50 

19/100   :'  95 
1/11      :   49 
1/4        :120 
3/10     :150 
3/25      :   60 
13/100   :   65 
1/22      :   22 
4/25      :   80 

7/24      :140 
17/1000:      8.5 
1/7          :   71 
1/4:125 
1/4        :125 
11/100   :   55 
1/6        :   83 
1/5        :100 
1/8        :   61 
1/5        :100 

1/5        :100 
1/8,1/12:  61 

4/5        :400% 
1/3        :166 
1/7        :   71 
11/50     :110 
1/11     :  45 
13/100   :   65 
12/197   :   30 
1/4        :125 
1/7        :   71 
67/839   :   39 

19/100   :  95 
1/5        :100 
1/3        :166 
4/10     :200 
2/25     :  40 
17/100   :  85 
1/14      :125 
4/25     :   80 

5/12     :200 
17/1000:     8.5 
1/7        :   71 
1/4:125 
1/5        :100 
11/100   :   55 
1/9        :   55 
1/6        :   83 
1/7        :   71 
1/5        :100 
:100 
1/5        :100 
1/5        :100 

Emerson  

Ensign  

Forest   .. 

Franklin 

Fremont   

Grant  

Hamilton    . 

Hawthorne  

Irving    

Jackson  

Jefferson 

Lafavette 

Lincoln    

Longfellow  

Lowell  

Monroe    .. 

Onequa 

Onequa    (Annex)  
Oquirrh  

Poplar   Grove 

Riverside 

Sumner 

Training  

Twelfth  

Wasatch  

Washington 

Webster    . 

Whittier 

E    High 

W.  High  

'Data  not  secured  from  school. 


250  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

What  this  table  reveals.  Some  of  the  most  striking  facts 
shown  in  the  above  table  are  as  follows : 

1.  Less  than  25  per  cent  sufficiency  of  urinals  at  Emer- 
son and  Irving; 

2.  Less  than  45  per  cent  sufficiency  of  urinals  at  Bonne- 
ville,  Franklin,  Hamilton,  Jefferson,  Sumner,  Lincoln,  Wash- 
ington and  Webster; 

3.  Less  than  50  per  cent  sufficiency  of  seats  for  boys' 
at  Sumner; 

4.  Less  than  20  per  cent  sufficiency  of  seats  for  girls  at 
Monroe ; 

5.  Less  than  50  per  cent  sufficiency  of  seats  for  girls  at 
Sumner  and  Forest; 

6.  Equal  proportion   of  seats   for  the   two   sexes   in   six 
schools ; 

7.  Astonishing  variation   from   school   to   school   in   the 
apportionment    of   seats    and   urinals,    ranging,   for   example, 
from  one  seat  for  nine  girls  at  Longfellow  to  one  for  eighty 
girls  at  Monroe ;  from  one  seat  for  eleven'  boys  at  Longfellow 
to  one  for  54  boys  at  Sumner;  from  one  urinal  for  seventeen 
boys  at  Longfellow  to  one  for  ninety  at  Emerson  and  one  for 
ninety-five  at  Irving. 

8.  'Similar  lack  of  standards  as  regards  the  lightning  of 
toilets,  the  ratio  of  window  to  floor  space  ranging  from  4-5 
down  to  1-59. 

Surely  the  .above  facts  show  chaos  compounded.  The  laws 
of  chance  would  have  given  about  as  correct  proportions. 
The  need  for  some  educational  oversight  of  the  building  de- 
partment is  certainly  evident. 

At  least  ten  toilets  have  less  than  half  the  standard 
amount  of  window  area,  and  the  lighting  of  toilets  is  often 
less  satisfactory  than  the  ratios  given  in  the  table  would  sug- 
gest. In  many  cases  the  windows  are  partly  below  ground, 
often  the  panes  are  not  fully  transparent,  or  the  light  is  ob- 
structed in  some  other  way.  Generally  the  seats  are  arranged 
in  double  rows,  in  which  case  the  row  facing  away  from  the 


THE  SCHOOL  PLANT.  251 

windows  is  almost  sure  to  be  poorly  lighted.  Only  one  row 
of  seats  should  be  permitted.  Toilet  rooms  should  always  be 
made  large  enough  to  permit  the  observance  of  this  rule. 

The  method  of  dispensing  toilet  paper  is  very  unsatisfac- 
tory. Ordinarily  there  is  only  one  dispenser  for  a  toilet  room, 
none  being  placed  in  the  individual  stalls.  The  dispenser  used 
is  the  familiar  lock-box  variety,  which  works  so  slowly  that 
in  the  rush  periods  at  recess  pupils  can  not  possibly  be  prop- 
erly supplied. 

In  one  school  boys  were  seen  to  go  to  the  stalls  without 
paper  rather  than  stand  in  line  to  wait  their  turn.  In  another 
toilet  the  dispenser  was  empty  and  no  paper  was  to  be  found. 
The  object  of  the  single-dispenser  plan  was  said  to  be  economy! 
Surely  one  of  the  wealthiest  cities  of  its  class  in  the  United 
States  ought  not  find  itself  driven  to  such  disgusting  economy. 
Economy  is  a  good  think  in  its  'place,  but  children  ought  to  be 
encouraged  or  even  explicitly  instructed  to  avoid  economy  of 
this  kind.  What  possible  connections  can  be  established  be- 
tween such  a  type  o<f  'building  supervision  and  the  hygiene 
instruction  in  the  schools? 

Drinking1  fountains.  It  is  a  pleasure  to  find  inviting, 
bubbling  fountains  at  all  the  schools.  In  sixteen  (half)  of  the 
schools,  however,  there  are  no  fountains  inside  the  building. 
It  is  recommended  that  half  the  fountains,  at  least,  should  be 
placed  inside.  More  attention  should  also  be  given  to  the  ratio 

TABLE  NO.  44. 
DRINKING  FOUNTAINS  PROVIDED. 

Less  than  25  children  per  -fountain,  2  schools ; 
Between  25  and  50  children  per  fountain,  3  schools ; 
Between  50  and  75  children  per  fountain,  11  schools; 
Between  75  and  100  children  per  fountain,  9  schools ; 
Between  100  and  125  children  per  fountain,  3  schools : 
Between  125  and  150  children  per  fountain,  0  schools : 
Over  150  children  per  fountain,  2  schools. 


252  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

of  fountains  to  school  children.  The  table  just  given  shows 
this  to  'be  very  uneven.  Some  of  the  schools  having  more 
fountains  than  necessary,  others  too  few.  Probably  one  foun- 
tain for  about  75  to  100  children  is  the  correct  proportion. 

Roller  towels.  In  schools  where  the  common  drinking 
cup  has  long  been  banished  it  is  surprising  to  find  the  common 
roller  towel  everywhere  in  evidence.  No  school  is  without  it. 
Many  of  those  seen  were  unspeakably  dirty,  as  of  course 
roller  towels  are  expected  to  be.  One  of  the  principals  testi- 
fied that  he  had  recently  acquired  pink-eye  from  drying  his 
hands  on  one  and  then  rubbing  his  eye  with  the  finger.  It 
has  been  often  enough  demonstrated  that  the  roller  towel  is  a 
frequent  means  of  spreading  contagious  disease.  It  should 
of  course  be  banished  forthwith  in  favor  of  sanitary  paper 
napkins. 

Janitor  service.  The  janitor  service,  though  perhaps  on 
the  whole  not  greatly  inferior  to  that  of  the  average  city,  is  in 
a  number  of  schools  not  satisfactory.  A  majority  of  the  prin- 
cipals questioned  testified,  however,  that  the  janitors  are  con- 
scientious in  their  efforts  to  do  the  work  as  it  should  be  done. 
The  fault,  where  any  exists,  appears  to  be  chiefly  in  the  lack 
of  persistent  and  intelligent  supervision,  especially  the  latter. 

Feather  dusters  are  used  exclusively  in  three  of  the  build- 
ings (Emerson,  Longfellow,  and  Wasatch),  and  in  part  in  six- 
teen others.  The  feather  duster  is  a  criminal  offender  and 
should  not  be  tolerated. 

'Still  worse,  dry  sweeping  is  regularly  practiced  in  both 
classrooms  and  halls  of  seven  buildings,  namely,  Ensign,  F'or- 
est,  Onequa,  Oquirrh,  Poplar  Grove,  Sumner  and  West  High. 
In  certain  other  buildings  sweeping  compound  is  used  in  the 
halls,  but  not  the  classrooms.  It  would  appear  that  many  of 
the  janitors  use  the  sweeping  compound  only  intermittently,  as 
four  out  of  eleven  were  found  sweeping  without  it.  When 
questioned,  each  gave  the  same  reply,  namely,  that  the  supply 
had  just  been  exhausted !  In  all  these  cases  choking  clouds  of 
dust  were  being  raised.  Another  prevailing  practice  to  be 


THE  SCHOOL  PLANT. 


253 


strongly  condemned  is  that  of  sweeping  the  halls  while  the 
school  is  in  session.  All  the  class  rooms  are  swept  daily  ex- 
cept in  the  West  High  School. 

There  are  no  vacuum  cleaners  in  the  schools.  This  method 
of  removing  dirt  and  dust  is  wonderfully  satisfactory  in  school 
buildings  when  the  cleaning  plant  is  properly  installed.  Care- 
ful attention,  however,  must  be  paid  to  size  and  location  of 
ducts,  power  of  fans,  etc.  It  is  strongly  urged  that  vacuum 
cleaners  be  given  a  thorough  trial  in  buildings  erected  in  the 
future. 

The  floors  of  most,  but  not  all,  of  the  buildings  have  been 
oiled,  though  in  some  cases  not  for  many  months  or  even 
years.  The  use  of  floor  oils  should  be  required  in  all  buildings, 
regardless  of  protests  on  the  part  of  a  few  teachers.  The  oil 
should  be  applied  lightly  at  least  twice  a  year.  The  floor 
should  first  be  thoroughly  cleaned,  and  the  oil  which  does 
not  penetrate  the  wood  should  'be  carefully  mopped  up.  If 
these  precautions  are  taken  the  oiled  floor  will  not  look  un- 
sightly and  it  will  not  soil  the  clothing.  Oiling  the  floors  is 
imperative  in  the  interests  of  health. 

Over  and  over  again  it  has  been  experimentally  demon* 
strated  that  it  decreases  the  number  of  floating  dust  particles 
and  of  bacteria  to  one-fifth  or  one-tenth  that  found  in  un- 
treated rooms. 

This  is  illustrated  in  the  following  tests  made  by  Dr.  Lam- 
bert in  an  English  school: 

TABLE  NO.  45. 
EFFECT  OF  TREATING  F'LOORS  WITH  OIL. 


Plates  exposed 

Colonies  of  bacteria 

Floors  treated  by  oil 

Floors  not  treated 

5  minutes  in  still  air 

0 

7 

30  minutes  in  still  air 

2 

12 

5  minutes  during  sweeping 

38 

456 

5  minutes  just  after  sweeping 

11 

79 

5  minutes  beginning  10  minutes 

after  sweeping 

6 

62 

5  minutes  beginning  15  minutes 

after  sweeping 

1 

31 

254  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

Need  for  greater  cleanliness.  Unquestionably  much  of  the 
nasal  catarrh  and  throat  trouble  found  among  the  children 
(See  Figure  43)  is  accounted  for  by  the  antiquated  methods 
of  school  housekeeping  in  vogue  in  this  city.  Every  effort 
should  be  made  to  keep  the  school  building  as  neat  as  a  well- 
kept  home  and  as  clean  as  a  hospital.  This  should  be  the  aim, 
even  though  it  is  not  always  possible  to  attain  it  fully. 

More  could  be  done  in  this  direction  if  the  school  grounds 
were  always  well  drained,  properly  graded,  and  in  part  grav- 
eled. More  attention  should  be  paid  to  having  children  clean 
their  shoes  before  entering  the  building,  and  for  this  purpose 
door  mats  and  scrapers  should  be  more  liberally  provided. 
On  rainy  days  the  members  of  the  survey  staff  saw  many 
school  buildings  in  which  the  floors  of  class  rooms  were  covered 
with  mud. 

It  was  not  possible  to  gather  extensive  data  regarding 
the  compentency  of  janitors  in  the  management  o<f  the  heating 
and  ventilating  'apparatus.  The  temperature  records  given  on 
p.  236  show  that  some  fault  exists  here,  but  exactly  how  much 
of  this  is  to  be  charged  against  the  janitors,  and  how  much 
to  the  imperfection  of  heating  plants,  we  do  not  know.  The 
matter  is  recommended  for  further  investigation  by  the  school 
authorities.  The  same  may  be  said  in  regard  to  the  imperfec- 
tions of  ventilation. 

Next  to  the  principal,  the  janitor  is  the  most  important 
officer  in  the  school  building.  The  duties  are  so  varied  that 
it  is  not  easy  to  find  persons  who  have  all  the  needed  quali- 
fications. Janitors  should  combine  the  neat  housewife's  ideals 
of  cleanliness  with  a  'fair  knowledge  of  mechanics.  The  right 
moral  and  temperamental  qualifications  are  no  less  important. 
It  is  evident  that  it  is  impossible  to  give  too  much  care  to  the 
choice  of  janitors.  After  the  selection  has  been  made,  efficiency 
should  be  the  only  ground  for  retention. 

Efficiency  of  janitors  can  be  greatly  increased  by  super- 
vision and  training.  Professional  study,  including  lectures 
and  required  reading,  should  be  arranged  at  least  every  second 
year  for  the  entire  janitorial  force. 


THE  SCHOOL  PLANT.  -j.v, 

Fire  protection.  Only  the  newest  buildings  are  fire  proof. 
The  stairs  are  usually  wooden,  the  furnace  rooms  are  not  al- 
ways fire  proof,  and  the  fire  escapes  are  in  a  few  cases  either 
lacking  or  inadequate.  One  of  the  outside  doors  was  found 
locked  during  school  hours  at  two  buildings.  Only  a  few  of 
the  schools  have  panic  bolts  for  the  outside  doors.  The  fire 
drills,  five  of  which  were  witnessed,  were  reasonably  good, 
but  not  always  as  orderly  as  could  be  desired.  The  time  for 
clearing  the  building  ranged  from  a  minute  and  twenty  sec- 
onds to  two  minutes  and  five  seconds. 

Serious  fire  tragedies  have  oecured  in  school  buildings 
no  worse  than  the  majority  of  those  in  Salt  Lake  City,  and  it 
is  recommended  that  precautions  be  taken  on  all  the  points 
enumerated  above.  Panic  bolts  should  be  immediately  pro- 
vided for  all  outside  doors,  and  fire  drills  should  be  subjected 
to  more  uniform  control.  Future  buildings  should  be  made 
more  nearly  fire-proof. 

Quality  of  construction  and  costs.  The  limited  time  for 
the  survey  did  not  permit  a  careful  study  of  these  questions. 
Costs  vary  so  much  in  different  parts  of  the  country  that  only 
a  searching  investigation  would  have  made  possible  any  criti- 
cism on  this  point.  The  quality  of  construction  appears  to 
have  been,  on  the  whole,  very  substantial, — unfortunately  so, 
considering  the  primitive  type  of  architecture  in  all  but  the 
most  recent  buildings.  All  but  those  erected  in  the  last  four 
or  five  years  are  so  faulty  in  plan  that  it  is  a  pity  they  are 
not  now  rickety  enough  to  demand  replacement.  It  is  depress- 
ing to  think  that  some  of  these  will  last  a  quarter  of  a  century 
yet  and  that  many  thousands  of  children  will  have  to  suffer 
from  their  defects.  The  planning  of  school  building  should  be 
looked  upon,  indeed,  as  a  solemn  undertaking.  It  is  a  task 
which  calls  not  only  for  the  Highest  class  of  professional  skill, 
but  also  for  a  readiness  to  regard  every  other  interest  as  sec- 
ondary to  the  welfare  of  children. 

Repairs.     The  annual  budget  for  the  maintenance  and  re- 


256  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

pairs  of  the  school  buildings,  which  for  the  past  six  years  has 
averaged  about  $55,000  a  year,  seems  rather  large,  when  we 
consider  the  present  condition  of  the  buildings.  The  question 
raised  is  whether  the  money  expended  for  this  purpose  has 
always  been  devoted  to  the  kind  of  repairs  most  urgent.  Many 
new  floors  have  recently  been  laid,  at  considerable  expense,  in 
buildings  where  alterations  of  rooms  and  improved  toilet  fa- 
cilities were  much  more  needed.  These  old  floors  would  have 
had  to  be  very  bad  indeed  to  justify  their  renewal  at  the  ex- 
pense of  other  needed  improvements. 

Good  floors  are  important,  but  it  may  be  well  to  empha- 
size the  fact  that  in  disposing  of  a  repair  budget  there  seems 
to  be  a  natural  tendency  to  give  preference  to  the  kind  of  re- 
pair work  which  is  simplest,  which  requires  the  least  planning 
and  the  least  supervision,  and  which  carries  with  it  the  least 
educational  significance.  Floor  renewal  falls  in  this  class. 
Fundamental  alterations,  the  reconstruction  of  toilets,  changes 
in  lighting,  etc.,  all  require  better  school-engineering  knowl- 
edge, more  forethought  in  the  planning,  and  more  expert 
supervision. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  it  requires  more  thought  to  distribute 
to  the  best  advantage  $50,000  for  repairs  than  to  plan  a  new 
school  building  costing  $100,000.  It  is  evident,  however,  that 
the  matter  has  not  been  viewed  in  this  light  in  Salt  Lake  City 
in  the  past. 

Summary  and  recommendations.  1.  About  half  of  the 
school  sites  are  of  inadequate  size.  Approximately  10,500 
children  attend  schools  where  the  available  playground  space 
amounts  to  less  than  100  sq.  ft.  per  child.  'Several  of  these 
sites  could  yet  be  enlarged,  and  it  is  recommended  that  steps 
be  taken  to  this  end.  Future  needs  in  this  line  should  be  an- 
ticipated. 

2.  The  architectural  plans  in  all  but  the  most  recent 
buildings,  and  to  a  certain  extent  these  also,  have  involved 
very  great  waste  of  building  space,  amounting  in  many  of  the 
buildings  to  40  per  cent  in  terms  of  cubical  contents. 


THE  SCHOOL  PLANT.  257 

3.  There  are  no  baths,  no  cloak  rooms,  no  nurses'  rooms, 
and  few  assembly  rooms  in  the  city.    The  quarters  for  domes- 
tic science  and  manual  training  are  in  many  cases  unsatis- 
factory.   It  is  suggested  that  most  of  these  conveniences  could 
be  provided  in  future  buildings  by  proper  economy  of  space. 

4.  It  is  recommended  that  most  of  the  74  basement  rooms 
be  abandoned  at  the  earliest  possible  moment,  and  that  base- 
ment rooms  be  avoided  in  future  buildings.    The  same  recom- 
mendation holds  for  the  46  hall  classrooms. 

5.  There  are  relatively  few  classrooms  in  the  city  which 
conform  to  all  the  standards  of  lighting.     In  more  than  half 
the  lighting  is  very  objectionable.    It  is  recommended  that  the 
walls  and  ceilings  be  re-tinted;  that  light  obstructions  be  re- 
moved where  possible;  that  translucent,  double-roller  window 
shades  be  substituted  for  those  now  in  use ;  and  that  in  future 
buildings  the  following  standards  be  observed : 

(a).  Avoidance  of  north  or  south  lighting; 

(b).  All  rooms  to  be  lighted  from  left  only; 

(c).  Eatio  of  window  area  to  floor  area,  20-25  per  cent; 

(d).  Six  to   eight  feet  of  dead  space  in  front  of  first 
window. 

6.  Temperature  records  collected  at  three  different  times 
in  the  school  year  show  that  out  of  1157  records,  71  per  cent 
are  unsatisfactory,  and  that  16  per  cent  are  as  much  as  5  de- 
grees too  high  or  too  low.     Other  facts  indicate  that  the  ven- 
tilating systems  in  use  are  also  often  at  fault.     It  is  recom- 
mended that  the  heating  and  ventilating  apparatus  be  thor- 
oughly gone  over  with  a  view  to  the  correction  of  as  many 
defects  as  possible. 

7.  Adjustable  desks  are  present  in  sufficient  number  in 
only  10  per  cent  of  the  classrooms.    In  the  future  only  adjust- 
able desks  should  be  purchased.     Practically  all  desks  are  in- 
correctly set.    The  arrangement  should  be  changed  from  "zero- 
distance"  to  "minus  distance"  throughout  the  city. 

8.  The  blackboards  are  generally  in  good  repair,  but  a 
large  number  are  placed  too  high  from  the  floor. 


258  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

9.  The  janitor  work  should  be  improved  and  more  care- 
fully  supervised.     Dry^sweeping   and   dry-dusting   should   be 
eliminated.     The  school  principals  should  be  given  larger  con- 
trol over  the  selection  and  work  of  the  janitors. 

10.  Several  of  the  toilets  need  improvements,  and  a  few 
should  be  entirely  replaced.     The  fixtures  are  often  of  an  un- 
satisfactory type,   seats  and  urinals  are   often  insufficient  in 
number,  and  the  method  of  dispensing  toilet  paper  is  very 
objectionable.    The  lighting  should  be  improved  where  possible. 

11.  The  roller  towel  and  common  soap  should  go. 

12.  Drinking  fountains  should  be  more  carefully  appor- 
tioned according  to  the  number  of  children,  and  half  of  them 
should  be  placed  inside  the  buildings. 

13.  Showers  for  both  boys  and  girls  should  find  a  place 
in  all  new  buildings. 

14.  Open-air  classes  should  be  provided  for  tuberculous 
and  pre-tuberculous  children. 

15.  The  worst  of  the  present  buildings  should  be  aban- 
doned as  early  as  possible. 

16.  A  new  building,  somewhat  centrally  located,  should 
be  provided  for  the  sub-normal  children,  to  take  the  place  of 
the  present  Twelfth  School. 

17.  Special   forethought   should   be   given   to   the   repair 
budget,  in  order  to  insure  that  it  be  used  to  better  advantage. 

18.  The  superintendent  of  buildings  and  the  janitor  force 
should  be  made  responsible  to  the  superintendent  of  schools. 

19.  It  is  especially  urged  that  in  all  matters  pertaining 
to  heating,  lighting,  ventilation,  and  school  planning  generally, 
the  services  of  a  qualified  full-time  expert  be  secured  and  re- 
tained. 


HEALTH  SUPERVISION.  259 

CHAPTER  XI. 
HEALTH  SUPERVISION. 

(Terman.) 

Standards  for  comparison.  Before  offering  a  criticism  of 
the  health  supervision  in  the  Salt  Lake  City  schools  it  will 
be  well  to  set  forth  the  standards  which  have  been  generally 
agreed  upon  by  the  best  authorities  as  constituting  the  essen- 
tials for  this  phase  of  school  work.  While  a  few  good  school 
systems  are  at  present  lacking  in  some  of  the  following  items, 
the  effort  is  being  made  in  all  progressive  cities  to  incorporate 
as  many  of  them  as  possible,  and  many  school  systems  have 
the  equivalent  of  them  all.  The  standards  set  forth  are  meant 
to  indicate  the  requirements  in  cities  of  from  75,000  to  150,000 
population. 

Officers  and  assistants.  One  full-time  medical  director; 
one  half-time  assistant  physician  for  each  10,000  children  in 
the  grades ;  one  full-time  female  physician  for  each  800  to  1200 
high  school  girls ;  one  full-time  male  physician  for  each  800  to 
1200  high  school  boys;  a  nurse  for  every  2000  pupils  in  the 
grades;  one  half-time  dentist,  and  one  half-time  specialist  in 
diseases  of  the  eye,  ear,  nose  and  throat,  for  each  10,000 
pupils. 

Scope  and  nature  of  work.  The  work  should  include  the 
following : 

(1)  Frequent   inspection   of   all   the   children   by   school 
nurses  for  the  control  of  transmissible  diseases,  with  proper  re- 
gulations for  exclusions; 

(2)  A  thorough  medical   examination   of   each   child   at 
least  every  second  school  year,  for  the  purpose  of  detecting 
chronic  defects  as  well  as  acute  disorders ; 

(3)  Annual  tests  of  vision  and  hearing,  either  by  nurses 
or  teachers; 


260  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

(4)  Persistent  follow-up  work  by  nurses,  in  order  that 
parents  may  'be   convinced  of  the  necessity  of  having  their 
children's  defects  attended  to; 

(5)  Free  medical  and  dental  treatment  in  a  central  clinic, 
for  the  children  of  poor  or  indigent,  by  a  regularly  employed 
school  physician  and  dentist,  this  to  be  supplemented  by  co- 
operation with  local  dental   and  medical  societies  and  with 
hospitals  and  dispensaries; 

(6)  Sanitary  inspection  of  school  buildings  by  nurses  and 
physicians ; 

(7)  Medical  examination  of  candidates  for  teaching  posi- 
tions ; 

(8)  Open-air  schools  for  tuberculous  or  anaemic  children ; 

(9)  School  lunches  for  the  ill-nourished,  furnished  gratis 
to  those  who  can  not  afford  to  pay; 

(10)  The  education  of  the  home  in  matters  of  child  hy- 
giene by  means  of  parent  teacher  associations,  distribution  of 
health  leaflets,  etc;  and 

(11)  Publicity  work  for  enlisting  the  co-operation  of  the 
general  public. 

In  order  to  give  proper  scope  to  the  work>  and  in  order  to 
insure  effective  co-operation  among  its  various  branches,  it  is 
usually  advisable  to  have  it  under  the  control  of  the  board 
of  education  rather  than  the  board  of  health. 

Costs.  Director,  $3000;  full-time  assistant  physicians  or 
dentists,  $1800  to  $2200;  half-time  physicians  or  dentists,  $1000 
to  $1200;  head  nurse,  $100  per  month;  regular  nurses,  $75  to 
$90  per  month.  Total  cost,  between  75  cents  and  $1.00  for  each 
school  child,  or  $15,000  to  $20,000  for  a  city  the  size  of  Salt 
Lake  City.  To  this  should  be  added  the  outlay  for  equipping 
a  central  clinic,  and  for  the  nurse's  room  which  should  be  pro- 
vided in  each  new  school  building. 

In  judging  the  school  health  work  of  this  city  it  is  neces- 
sary to  keep  the  above  standards  rather  fully  in  mind.  No 
other  function  which  the  school  has  assumed  in  recent  years 
exceeds  health  supervision  in  importance ;  and  yet,  partly  be- 


HEALTH  SUPERVISION.  261 

cause  of  its  newness,  it  is  often  carried  on  with  little  vision  of 
the  larger  purposes  it  ought  to  serve.  Even  cities  which  are 
otherwise  commendably  progressive  in  school  matters  some- 
times rest  content  with  half-way  measures  in  health  super- 
vision, not  realizing  their  inadequacy.  This  is  especially  true 
in  localities  which  are  geographically  isolated,  and  where  there 
is  only  limited  opportunity  to  observe  the  work  of  other  cities 
and  to  learn  from  their  experience. 

Stages  in  the  development  of  health  service.  The  growth 
of  school  health  work  in  the  cities  of  the  United  States,  and 
other  countries  as  well,  is  marked  by  certain  well-defined 
stages.  It  always  begins  in  an  effort  of  the  board  of  health 
to  prevent  the  spread  of  transmissible  diseases  in  the  schools, 
to  eradicate  parasites,  and  to  improve  the  sanitary  conditions 
of  the  buildings.  The  work  indicated  represents  the  first  stage 
of  health  supervision,  and  is  usually  called  "medical  inspec- 
tion." Because  of  the  o'bvious  duty  of  the  public  to  counteract 
the  increased  danger  of  contagion,  incident  to  compulsory  at- 
tendance of  all  classes  of  children  in  the  same  school,  this  was 
the  logical  and  natural  first  point  of  attack. 

After  this  pha.se  of  the  work  has  been  gotten  well  in  hand, 
and  when  the  medical  inspectors  have  had  more  opportunity 
to  observe  and  study  the  physical  needs  of  the  children,  they 
are  brought  to  a  keener  realization  of  the  large  number  of 
children  Who  have  one  or  more  serious  physical  defects  other 
than  a  contagious  disease.  Among  the  defects,  often  neglected 
or  unnoticed  even  by  intelligent  parents  and  teachers,  are 
adenoids,  enlarged  tonsils,  visual  defects,  partial  deafness,  de- 
fective teeth,  malnutrition,  physical  deformities,  heart  trouble, 
diseased  glands,  incipient  tuberculosis,  etc.  While  only  about 
2  or  3  per  cent,  of  the  school  children  of  a  city  need  to  be 
excluded  in  any  one  year  because  of  a  contagious  disease, 
about  60  to  75  per  cent,  are  always  found  to  have  one  or  more 
serious  physical  defects  of  the  chronic  type. 

The  second  stage  in  development.  When  such  conditions 
are  understood  and  appreciated  the  nature  and  purpose  of 


262  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

medical  inspection  must  be  differently  conceived.  In  addition 
to  the  frequent  and  hasty  inspections  for  contagion,  thorough 
physical  examinations  are  then  instituted,  including  examina- 
tions of  heart,  lungs,  nutrition,  teeth,  eyes,  ears,  and  throat. 
Assistant  physicians  and  school  nurses,  in  rather  large  Lumber, 
become  necessary  in  order  to  meet  the  extension  and  increased 
thoroughness  of  the  work;  Since  many  parents  fail  to  realize 
the  seriousness  of  the  defects  discovered,  and  disregard  the 
notices  sent  out  by  the  medical  director,  it  becomes  necessary 
to  organize  a  vigorous  follow-up  service.  In  this  the  well 
trained  and  tactful  nurse  has  proved  herself  indispensable.  Be- 
cause some  parents  are  too  poor  to  pay  for  the  medical  or 
dental  treatment  recommended,  free  clinics  must  be  organized 
and  the  co-operation  of  local  medical  and  dental  associations, 
charity  organizations,  hospitals,  and  dispensaries  must  be  en- 
listed. This  may  be  called  the  second  stage  in  the  development 
of  school  health  work. 

The  third  stage.  This  is  represented  by  a  shift  of  the  em- 
phasis to  preventive  work.  The  attempt  to  bring  about  the 
cure  of  defects  -after  they  have  become  well  established  is 
praiseworthy,  but  the  task  is  difficult,  and  the  results  are  often 
partial  and  unsatisfactory.  It  is  far  more  rational  to  exercise 
such  constant  and  close  supervision  over  the  health  and 
physical  development  of  the  school  children  that  defects  will 
be  prevented,  or  else  remedied  before  they  have  become  a 
menace  to  healthy  growth.  The  acceptance  of  this  point  of 
view  necessitates : 

(1)  Increased  thoroughness  of  the  examinations  in  the 
lower  grades; 

(2)  Extension  of  free  medical  and  dental  treatment; 

(3)  The   establishment   of   open-air  schools  for   anaemic 
and  pre-tuberculous  children ; 

(4)  School  feeding; 

(5)  School  baths; 

(6)  Special  schools  for  the  cure  of  speech  defects; 

(7)  Medical   supervision   of   physical   training   and   ath- 
letics; 


HEALTH  SUPERVISION.  263 

(8)  Modifications  in  the  program  and  discipline  of  the 
school  in  order  to  guard  against  fatigue  and  to  prevent  injury 
to  neuropathic  children ; 

(9)  Special  classes  for  the  mentally  subnormal; 

(10)  Increased  attention  to  standards  of  heating,  light- 
ing, and  ventilation; 

(11)  Improvement  of  janitorial  service; 

(12)  More  practical  and  effective  hygiene  teaching; 

(13)  Enlarged  playground  facilities  and  play  supervision  ; 

(14)  Systematic  enlightenment  of  the  teachers  in  matters 
of  health ; 

(15)  Organized  publicity  and  extension  work,  designed 
to  improve  the  hygienic  standards  of  the  home. 

'School  health  work  of  this  inclusive  and  preventive  nature 
goes  far  beyond  what  has  usually  been  called  "medical  inspec- 
tion" and  may  be  fitly  termed  health  and  development  super- 
vision. Its  aim  is  to  organize  all  the  forces  and  departments 
of  the  school,  not  only  for  the  prevention  of  disease,  but  also 
for  the  more  positive  cultivation  of  physical  efficiency. 

Health,  supervision  becomes  an  educational  service.     It  is 

at  once  evident  that  health  work  of  this  broad  scope,  inter- 
woven as  it  is  with  the  everyday  educational  activities  of  the 
school,  can  not  be  carried  on  as  an  incident  in  the  public  health 
work,  or  as  a  side  issue  from  the  office  of  the  board  of  health. 
It  must  have  a  full-time  and  responsible  head  who  is  not  only 
well  trained  in  preventive  medicine  generally  and  child  hygiene 
in  particular,  but  who  has  also  the  educational  viewpoint  and 
the  ability  and  authority  to  aid  in  shaping  the  activities  of  the 
school  so  as  better  to  accord  with  the  child's  physical  needs. 
Accordingly  it  is  found  necessary  in  nearly  all  cases,  before 
health  supervision  can  enter  fully  into  the  third  stage  above 
described,  for  the  board  of  education  to  assume  responsibility 
for  the  work  and  to  finance  and  control  it.  In  the  first  stage 
the  work  can  be  perfectly  handled  by  the  board  of  health,  and, 
though  somewhat  less  satisfactorily,  in  the  second  sta«ro  also. 


264  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

Very  much  depends,  however,  on  the  personal  equation  of  the 
man  behind  the  work.  Better  results  will  of  course  be  secured 
by  a  first-class  director  employed  by  the  board  of  health  than 
by  a  second  or  third  rate  director  working  under  the  authority 
of  the  board  of  education. 

Nature  of  the  school  health  work  in  Salt  Lake  City.    In 

the  light  of  the  above  discussion  we  are  now  in  position  to 
judge  the  school  health  work  in  Salt  Lake  City  with  reference 
to  widely  accepted  and  impersonal  standards.  The  leading 
features  of  the  system  are  as  follows : 

1.  The  work  is  carried  on  under  the  authority  of  the  city 
board  of  health,  and  under  the  general  direction  of  the  health 
commissioner.     It  is  more  immediately  under  the  direction  of 
one  of  the  board  of  health's  assistant  physicians,  who  devotes 
to  it  a  large  share  of  his  time. 

2.  There  are  six  nurses,  including  a  head  nurse,  all  of 
whom  give  most  of  their  time  to  school  work  as  long  as  the 
schools  are  in  session. 

3.  The  efforts  of  the  above  corps  of  officers  are  at  present 
devoted  mainly  to  the  prevention  and  control  of  contagious 
diseases.     Recently,  also,  a  good  deal  has  been  done  to  bring 
about  the  treatment  of  adenoids,  diseased  tonsils,  and  the  more 
serious  cases  of  eye  defects. 

4.  Each  school  is  visited  from  two  to  four  times  a  week 
by  a  nurse,  who  spends  on  an  average  from  one  to  two  minutes 
in  each  class  room,  walking  down  each  aisle  and  inspecting 
the  faces  and  arms  of  the  children  for  signs  of  contagious  dis- 
ease.    In  some  of  the  schools  the  hair  is  also  inspected  for 
pediculosis. 

More  careful  examinations  are  made  of  children  who  show 
symptoms  of  contagious  disease,  and  exclusions  are  ordered  in 
the  cases  which  seem  to  require  it.  At  the  same  time,  permits 
are  issued  for  the  re-admission  of  children  who  have  been 
previously  excluded  and  are  in  condition  to  return  to  school. 
Such  children  are  allowed  to  report  to  the  nurse  at  the  school 
which  they  regularly  attend,  instead  of  being  compelled  to 


HEALTH  SUPERVISION.  265 

journey  down  town  to  the  office  of  the  health  commissioner  for 
this  purpose.  Before  leaving  the  building  the  nurse  makes  note 
of  any  unsanitary  conditions  which  seem  to  demand  attention. 
Most  of  her  remaining  time  is  taken  up  with  home  visitation, 
and  in  making  arrangements  for  the  free  medical  treatment 
of  the  children  of  the  poor. 

5.  When  a  child  has  been  excluded  by  the  nurse,  as  de- 
scribed in  the  last  paragraph,  a  visit  is  made  to  the  child's 
home  by  one  of  the  assistant  physicians  for  the  purpose  of 
making  a  diagnosis  of  the  case.    Most  of  these  visits  are  made 
by  one  physician. 

6.  There  is  no  medical  examination,  periodically  or  other- 
wise, of  the  entire  school  population,  and  there  are  few  indi- 
vidual instances  of  medical  examination  except  in  cases  of  sus- 
pected contagious  disease. 

7.  Neither  a  medical  nor  a  dental   clinic  has  yet  been 
established. 

8.  High    school   pupils    do   not  have   the   advantage   of 
medical  examinations  or  advice,  and  there  is  no  medical  super- 
vision of  athletics.     However,  a  commendable  beginning  has 
been  made  in  this  line  by  the  supervisor  of  physical  education, 
who  examines  high  school  boys  for  defects  of  vision,  hearing, 
heart,  and  posture. 

9.  There  are  no  bathing  facilities  in  the  grades  below  the 
high  school. 

10.  Little  has  'been  done  toward  providing  school  meals 
for  ill-nourished  children. 

11.  In  contrast  with  nearly  all  other  cities  of  its  size  in 
the  United  States,  Salt  Lake  City  has  not  yet  established  an 
open-air  school. 

12.  The  cost  of  the  above  work  can  not  be  ascertained 
exactly,  because  all  who  are  engaged  in  it  give  a  portion  of 
their  time  to  other  duties.    The  six  nurses  are  paid  $5080  per 
year  and  the  assistant  physician  who  has  direct  charge  of  the 
work  is  paid  $1500  per  year.    The  cost  of  the  school  work  may 
be  estimated  as  between  $5000  and  $6000  per  year,  which  is  a 


266  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

little  over  25  cents  per  pupil  enrolled,  or  about  one-third  to 
one-fourth  the*  cost  of  an  adequate  system  of  health  supervision. 
13.  In  addition  to  the  work  carried  on  by  the  board  of 
health,  the  board  of  education  also  employs  an  emergency 
physician  to  answer  calls  from  the  schools.  Although  the  title 
of  this  physician  is  "medical  inspector  of  schools,"  the  office 
is  at  present  a  rather  nominal  one,  as  the  duties  are  light  and 
the  pay  proportional  to  the  number  of  calls  made.  Another 
function  of  this  branch  of  the  school  medical  service  is  to  pro- 
vide for  the  medical  examinations  of  candidates  for  teaching 
positions,  and  to  require,  when  it  is  deemed  advisable,  medical 
examinations  of  teachers  in  service.  For  this  purpose  a  * '  board 
of  medical  examiners  for  teachers"  has  been  selected,  con- 
sisting of  thirteen  physicians  with  the  physician  by  the  board 
of  education  as  chairman. 

Stage  in  development  represented.  Comparing  now  the 
scope  of  service  attempted  with  the  recognized  standards  al- 
ready set  -forth,  it  is  immediately  obvious  that  school  health 
work  in  Salt  Lake  City  has  not  progressed  far  beyond  what  we 
have  described  as  the  "first  stage"  of  development.  Trans- 
missible diseases  are  admirably  controlled,  sanitary  inspection 
of  the  buildings  is  carried  on,  a  few  examinations  for  chronic 
defects  are  made,  the  nurses  are  doing  as  much  follow-up  work 
as  time  will  permit,  but  the  60  or  75  per  cent,  of  children  who 
have  chronic  defects  receive  little  attention  as  compared  with 
the  relatively  small  proportion  who  acquire  a  contagious  dis- 
ease. The  larger  and  more  important  fields  of  work  which  fall 
within  the  "second  stage"  and  "third  stage"  already  de- 
scribed have  been  little  developed.  The  importance  of  this 
wider  field  will  be  set  forth  presently. 

It  is  a  pleasure  to  add,  however,  that  whatever  work  is 
attempted  is  apparently  well  done.  The  records  show  unmis- 
takably that  contagious  diseases  have  been  significantly  re- 
duced in  the  last  two  or  three  years.  Parasites  have  been 
largely  eradicated,  and  all  the  teachers  questioned  bore  wit- 
ness to  the  fact  that  the  work  of  the  nurses  had  brought  ex- 


HEALTH  SUPERVISION.  267 

cellent  results  in  the  improvement  of  health  conditions  and  in 
the  promotion  of  cleanliness.  That  the  follow-up  work  has 
been  fruitful  in  spite  of  the  large  number  of  pupils  assigned 
to  each  nurse  (3000  to  3500)  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  10 
per  cent,  of  the  pupils  enrolled  have  had  adenoids  or  tonsils 
removed,  and  that  3.4  per  cent,  have  had  such  an  operation 
within  the  last  year. 

Results  from  the  present  service.  Important  evidence  as 
to  the  efficiency  of  the  nurses  in  controlling  contagious  diseases 
was  secured  in  the  following  manner.  It  will  be  remembered 
that  in  making  the  routine  inspections  at  a  school  the  nurse 
excludes  pupils  who  show  symptoms  of  contagious  disease, 
after  which  the  assistant  physician  visits  the  child's  home  and 
makes  a  diagnosis.  In  each  such  case  the  office  record  shows 
what  disease  the  nurse  "suspected"  and  what  the  physician 
actually  found. 

All  these  individual  records  for  the  school  year  1914-15 
were  turned  over  to  a  member  of  the  survey  staff  and  were 
summarized.  The  results  show  that  60  per  cent,  of  the  sus- 
picions were  fully  confirmed  by  the  diagnosis  of  the  physician, 
that  in  23  per  cent,  of  the  cases  in  which  the  suspicion  was  not 
confirmed,  there  existed  a  condition  of  disease  or  defect  which 
called  for  medical  attention,  and  that  in  only  17  per  cent,  of 
the  cases  was  there  no  need  of  a  physician.  On  an  'average, 
therefore,  five  out  of  six  cases  reported  by  the  nurses  are 
found  to  need  immediate  medical  care.  This  is  certainly  a 
splendid  record.  The  contagious  diseases  discovered  in  the 
schools  during  the  last  year  include,  among  others,  the  fol- 
lowing : 

Chicken  pox.  41  cases. 

Impetigo,  11  cases. 

Mumps,  57  cases. 

Pink-eye,  43  cases. 

Scabies  (itch),  22  cases. 

Whooping  cough,  38  cases. 

Small  pox,  3  cases. 


268  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

Scarlet  fever,  2  eases. 
Diptheria,  2  cases. 
Measles,  2  cases. 
Ringworm,  7  cases. 

In  all  probability  each  case  discovered  in  the  first  stages 
in  the  schools  means  the  prevention  of  several  additional  cases. 

Effectiveness  of  the  school  nurse.  These  findings  regard- 
ing the  ability  of  school  nurses  to  detect  contagious  diseases  in 
the  early  stages  are  fully  in  accord  with  the  experience  of  other 
cities.  No  better  evidence  could  be  desired  that  this  phase  of 
the  work  can  be  adequately  taken  care  of  by  school  nurses. 
To  employ  expensive  physicians  for  the  routine  inspections 
would  be  a  waste  of  money.  Even  the  best  medical  authorities 
(such  as  Dr.  B.  C.  Ca'bot  of  Harvard,  for  example)  admit  that 
the  well  trained  school  nurse  acquires  a  degree  of  skill  in 
recognizing  the  early  symptoms  O'f  contagious  disease  which 
is  mot  excelled  by  the  average  practicing  physician.  One 
explanation  is  the  large  amount  of  experience  secured  by  the 
nurse  in  a  relatively  short  period  of  time.  She  is  likely,  indeed, 
to  meet  more  cases  of  whooping  cough  or  measles  in  the  early 
stages  in  a  single  month  than  the  practicing  physician  would 
ordinarily  meet  in  the  course  of  ten  years. 

Another  function  well  performed  by  the  school  nurses  of 
Salt  Lake  City  is  that  of  vaccinating  children  against  small 
pox.  Utah  has  no  compulsory  vaccination  law  and  a  majority 
of  the  school  children  have  not  been  vaccinated,  although  no 
data  were  available  to  show  the  exact  number  of  unvaccinated. 
Prompt  action  is  therefore  necessary  when  a  case  has  been  dis- 
covered in  the  schools.  To  meet  the  situation  the  nurses  are 
allowed  to  perform,  free  of  charge,  vaccinations  of  school 
children  who  have  been  exposed  to  the  disease.  The  practice 
is  somewhat  exceptional  in  the  cities  of  the  United  States, 
largely  because  of  the  conservatism  of  many  physicians  who 
oppose  it.  There  is  absolutely  no  ground,  however,  for  such 
opposition.  Vaccinations  are  just  as  effective  when  performed 
gratis  by  the  nurses  as  when  performed  by  the  physician  at 


HEALTH  SUPERVISION.  269 

the  rate  of  $2.00  per  child.  That  they  are  also  fully  as  safe  is 
demonstrated  by  the  fact  that  in  the  two  years  1913  and  1914, 
1331  vaccinations  were  performed  by  the  school  nurses  of  Salt 
Lake  City  without  serious  complications  in  a  single  case.  The 
practice  should  by  all  means  be  continued. 

Expansions  planned  by  the  health  commissioner.  The  fact 
that  the  health  work  has  thus  far  progressed  little  beyond  the 
first  stage  is  not  offered  as  a  criticism  of  those  in  charge  of  it. 
Because  of  possible  misunderstanding  and  opposition,  both  on 
the  part  of  the  conservative  element  of  the  medical  profession 
and  of  the  public,  it  is  often  not  the  best  policy  to  try  to  inaug- 
urate at  one  stroke  an  ideal  system  of  school  health  supervis- 
ion. In  a  gradual  expansion  the  wisdom  of  each  step  proves 
itself,  and  smoothes  the  way  for  still  further  progress. 

This  has  marked  the  development  of  the  department  in 
Salt  Lake  City.  First  one  nurse  was  appointed,  then  a  second, 
and  two  years  ago  the  number  was  increased  to  six.  An  effort 
will  be  made  to  add  two  more  next  year,  and  ultimately  others 
until  there  shall  be  one  nurse  for  about  2000  children.  Ar- 
rangements have  been  made  for  opening  a  dental  clinic  at  the 
central  office  in  the  immediate  future.  Temporarily  the  dental 
work  will  be  done  without  expense  to  the  city  by  members  of 
the  local  dental  association.  This  will  finally  result,  without 
doubt,  in  the  employment  of  a  regular  school  dentist.  A  similar 
arrangement  is  contemplated  which  will  make  possible  the 
opening  of  a  medical  clinic. 

It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  where  the  system  is  new,  as 
is  the  case  here,  it  should  be  judged  less  by  what  it  has  already 
accomplished  than  by  the  limits  which  are  set  for  future  accom- 
plishments. Judged  by  this  standard  the  system  of  Salt  Lake 
City  merits  a  great  deal  of  praise.  The  authorities  in  charge 
are  fully  cognizant  of  the  work  to  be  done,  and  appear  to  have 
the  determination  and  the  tact  to  bring  about  the  desired  ex- 
pansions. The  point  of  view  is  strictly  in  harmony  with  mod- 
ern tendencies  in  child  hygiene. 

Health  conditions  of  Salt  Lake  City  school  children.     In 


270  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

order  to  indicate  some  of  the  unsolved  or  only  partly  solved 
health  problems  among  the  school  children,  the  following  two 
questionnaires  were  sent  to  each  teacher  in  the  city.  It  will  be 
noted  that  the  data  called  for  in  the  first  questionnaire  were 
secured  by  the  teacher  asking  the  questions  of  the  children, 
and  that  the  second  questionnaire  was  filled  out  by  the  teachers 
on  the  basis  of  their  own  observation. 

While,  of  course,  absolute  accuracy  can  not  be  claimed  for 
data  gathered  in  this  way,  it  is  probable  that  in  most  cases  they 
represent  the  facts  fairly  closely.  Dr.  E.  B.  Hoag,  who  has 
used  similar  question  lists  with  more  than  100,000  school 
children  in  -California  and  Minnesota,  has  always  found  that 
the  results  thus  obtained  do  not  differ  materially  from  those 
secured  by  his  actual  medical  examinations.  Indeed,  when  the 
data  from  these  question  lists  are  compared  with  the  statistics 
resulting  from  the  medical  examinations  which  have  been  given 
to  millions  of  school  children  in  hundreds  of  cities  of  the  United 
States,  Germany,  France,  England,  Japan,  Australia,  and  other 
countries,  the  amount  of  agreement  is  found  to  be  remarkable. 


HEALTH  SUPERVISION.  271 

TABLE  NO.  46. 
HEALTH  QUESTIONNAIRE  I. 

(One  to  each  teacher.) 

Name  of  school Grade  

Room Name  of  teacher 

Total  number  pupils 

(DIRECTIONS)  Ask  the  children  the  following  questions 
and  record  the  results.  It  is  important  to  ask  the  questions 
with  the  proper  degree  of  seriousness,  and  to  urge  the  pupils 
to  answer  as  correctly  as  possible. 

1.  How  many  have  headache  often  (two  or  three  times  a 
month)  ? 

2.  How  many  have  earache  often   (two  or  three  times  a 
month)  ?   

3.  How  many  sometimes  have  running  of  the  ears? 

4.  How  many  have  had  hearing  tested  sometime  ? 

5.  How  many  have  had  hearing  tested  in  this  school  year? 


6.  How  many  have  sore  throat  or  colds  often    (two  or 
three  times  a  month)  ?  .  .  ., 

7.  How  many  have  had  adenoids  or  tonsils  removed  ?  .  . .  . 

8.  How  many  have  had  adenoids  or  tonsils  taken  out  in 
the  last  year? 

9.  How  many  often  have  pain  or  watering  of  eyes? 

10.  How  many  can  not  easily  read  the  writing  on  the 
blackboard  ? 

11.  How  many  find  that  the  print  often  seems  to  blur, 
or  run  together,  or  look  double? 

12.  How  many  have  had  the  eyes  tested  sometime? 

13.  How  many  have  had  the  eyes  tested  in  the  last  year? 


14.  How  many  have  gone  to  a  dentist  sometime  ? 

15.  How  many  have  gone  to  a  dentist  in  the  last  year? 


16.  How  many  have  a  tooth  brush  ? 

17.  How  many  have  used  a  tooth  'brush  in  the  last  twenty- 
four  hours  ? 

18.  How  many  have  toothache  often  (two  or  three  times 
a  month)  ? 

19.  How  many  eat  breakfast  every  day? 

20.  How  many  eat  lunch  every  day  ? 


272  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

TABLE  NO.  47. 

HEALTH  QUESTIONNAIRE  II. 
(One  to  each  teacher.) 

Name  of  school Grade Room 

Name  of  teacher Number  of  pupils 


(To  be  filled  out  without  asking  children.    Accuracy  im- 
portant). 

1.  Number  of  pupils  who  have  frequent  or  chronic  dif- 
ficulty in  breathing  through  the  nose 

2.  Number  who  have  frequent  or  chronic  nasal  discharge 


3.  Number  who  have  nasal  or  thick  voice 

4.  Number  who  show  symptoms  of  imperfect  hearing  .... 

5.  Number  who  stutter  or  stammer 

6.  Number  who  show  symptoms  of  eye  defects  (redness 
or  watering  of  the  eyes,  squinting,  frowning,  cross-eye,  holding 
book  too  near,  miscalling  well  known  words,  etc.)   

7.  Number  who  wear  glasses  regularly 

8.  Number  who  have  some  marked  peculiarity,  such  as 
irritability,  muscular  twitchings,  nervousness,   excessive   tim- 
idity, tendency  to  cry  without  cause,  tendency  to  worry,  mo- 
roseness,  moral  abnormality,  etc 

9.  Num'ber  who  show  marked  lack  of  mental  alertness 


10.     Number  who  are  noticeably  lacking  in  play  activity 


11.  Number  who  are  delicate  or  frequently  ill  . 

12.  Number  whose  posture  is  habitually  faulty 


'Summarizing  the  data  on  health  conditions  among  the 
children,  obtained  from  the  questionnaires  sent  out,  wTe  get  the 
following  significant  information : 

Headaches.  More  than  26  per  cent,  of  the  children  (4409) 
have  headaches  often.  This  is  about  the  usual  percentage 
found.  Dr  Hoag's  figures  for  several  other  cities  range  from 
20  to  25  per  cent.  Headache  is  an  indication  that  something  is 
wrong,  and  when  the  trouble  is  chronic  we  are  always  justified 
in  suspecting  eye-strain,  nervousness,  constipation,  or  some  kind 
of  digestive  disturbance.  It  is  often  associated  with  poor 
nutrition  and  general  weakness. 


HEALTH  SUPERVISION.  273 

Ears  and  Hearing.  7.5  per  cent,  of  the  children,  (1243) 
have  earache  often,  5.5  per  cent.  (942)  have  had  at  sometime 
running  of  the  ears,  and  5.1  per  cent.  (883)  have  marked  symp- 
toms of  imperfect  hearing.  Dr.  Hoag's  figures  from  other 
cities  give  10  per  cent,  for  earache,  3  per  cent,  for  running  of 
the  ears,  and  about  4  per  cent,  for  imperfect  hearing.  Ear- 
ache often  means  an  infection  of  the  middle  ear,  and  the  dis- 
charge which  sometimes  follows  the  earache  means  that  the 
pus  has  broken  through  the  drum.  The  result  is  likely  to  be 
impaired  hearing  for  life.  In  any  school  system,  anywhere, 
tests  of  hearing  will  show  that  from  3  per  cent,  to  5  per  cent, 
of  the  children  have  seriously  defective  hearing  in  one  of  both 
ears,  and  that  at  least  1  per  cent,  have  not  over  one-fourth 
normal  hearing. 

In  Salt  Lake  City  only  13.6  per  cent,  of  the  children  have 
ever  had  the  hearing  tested,  and  only  2.6  per  cent,  within  the 
last  year.  Each  child  ought  to  have  a  hearing  test  every  year. 
They  can  be  given  by  the  teachers,  under  proper  supervision, 
and  the  time  required  for  such  tests  is  negligible.  Annual 
tests  of  hearing  are  required  by  law  in  several  states. 

Usually  a  fourth  of  one  per  cent  are  found  to  be  so  nearly 
deaf  as  to  warrant  their  removal  to  special  classes.  At  this 
rate  the  number  in  Salt  Lake  City  who  need  such  attention  is 
not  far  from  50,  or  enough  for  two  or  three  special  classes. 

Eyes  and  vision.  22  per  cent  of  the  children  testify  that 
the  print  sometimes  blurs,  23  per  cent  that  the  eyes  sometimes 
pain,  and  11.1  per  cent  are  said  by  the  teachers  to  show  symp- 
toms of  subnormal  vision.  33  per  cent  have  sometime  had  the 
eyes  tested,  7.7  per  cent  within  the  last  year.  These  results 
agree  closely  with  the  figures  in  other  cities.  It  is  safe  to  say 
that  in  any  city  at  least  15  per  cent  of  the  children  have  im- 
perfect vision  and  that  at  least  10  per  cent  ought  to  wear 
glasses.  In  this  city  only  2.7  per  cent  of  the  children  enrolled 
have  glasses,  which  means  that  three-fourths  of  the  cases  of 
defective  vision  have  been  neglected  (probably  1460). 


274 


SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 


In  order  to  check  up  the  data  secured  from  the  teachers, 
the  McCallie  vision  test  was  given  by  Mr.  Williams,  of  the  sur- 
vey staff,  to  510  children.  As  shown  in  the  following  chart, 
15  per  cent  of  these  children  had  defective  vision,  while  only 
3.5  per  cent  of  those  tested  were  wearing  glasses. 


TOTAL  NUMBER 


FIG.  42.     SHOWING  THE  RESULTS  OF  THE  EXAMINA- 
TION OF  CHILDREN'S  EYES  IN  SALT  LAKE  CITY. 

(McCallie  vision  tests). 

Tests  of  this  kind  should  be  given  to  every  child  each 
school  year.  Like  hearing  tests,  these  are  required  by  law  in 
a  number  of  states.  They  can  be  given  readily  by  the  teachers 


HEALTH  SUPERVISION.  275 

after  a  little  instruction.  The  teachers  can  not  determine  the 
cause  of  the  defective  vision,  'but  they  can  usually  determine 
whether  a  defect  exists.  The  oculist  will  do  the  rest. 

Nose  and  throat  troubles.  19.8  per  cent  have  sore  throat 
often,  8.6  per  cent  have  obstructed  breathing,  4  per  cent  have 
chronic  nasal  discharge,  and  5.7  per  cent  have  a  marked  nasal 
voice  (indicative  of  obstructed  breathing).  It  is  certain,  there- 
fore, that  not  less  than  10  per  cent  of  the  children  (2000)  have 
neglected  defects  of  nose  or  throat.  The  number  would  be 
far  greater  but  for  the  fact  that  another  10  per  cent  have  had 
adenoids  or  tonsils  removed.  As  with  other  defects,  the  per 
cent  having  nose  or  throat  trouble  agrees  closely  with  similar 
data  from  other  cities. 

The  injuries  produced  by  such  defects  are  so  well  recog- 
nized that  extended  discussion  here  is  not  necessary.  It  is 
sufficient  to  point  out  that  obstructed  breathing  nearly  always 
reduces  the  lung  capacity,  and  retards  mental  and  physical 
growth.  Many  a  "backward"  child  can  be  made  over  by  the 
removal  of  breathing  obstructions.  Neglected  adenoids  lay 
the  foundation  for  a  number  of  constitutional  weaknesses 
which  may  not  become  apparent  until  adult  life.  The  trouble 
often  spreads  to  the  ear.  Most  cases  of  partial  deafness  can 
be  traced  to  neglected  throat  troubles. 

Teeth.  Fortunately  for  our  purposes  the  teeth  of  4363 
of  the  school  children  of  the  city  had  recently  been  examined 
by  dentists  from  the  local  dental  association.  These  included 
all  in  attendance  at  the  Riverside,  Jackson,  Whittier,  Lowell, 
Lafayette,  Popuar  Grove  and  Wasatch  schools.  The  results 
were  summarized  by  us  for  the  schools  separately,  and  are 
shown  in  the  table  given  on  the  following  page. 

What  this  examination  revealed.  ;S'ome  of  the  most  strik- 
ing facts  shown  in  the  above  table  are  as  follows : 

That  with  19  per  cent  the  general  condition  of  the  mouth 
is  distinctly  "bad",  and  with  34.1  per  cent  only  "fair." 

That  the  condition  of  the  gums  is  "bad"  with  9.7  per  cent, 
and  only  "fair"  with  17.4  per  cent. 


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HEALTH  SUPERVISION.  277 

That  32.1  per  cent  have  mal-occlusion. 

That  the  teeth  of  24.8  per  cent  are  badly  in  need  of  clean- 
ing. 

That  the  4363  children  have  a  total  of  16,612  carious  (de- 
caying) teeth,  or  an  average  number  of  3.7  carious  teeth  per 
child. 

That  1986  teeth  were  found  needing  extraction. 

That  43.5  per  cent  of  the  children  do  not  use  a  tooth  brush. 

The  results  of  the  health  questionnaire  submitted  to  the 
teachers  by  the  survey  commission  brought  out  the  following 
additional  facts: 

That  25.1  per  cent  of  the  children  often  have  toothache. 

That  36.8  per  cent  have  never  'been  to  a  dentist. 

That  64  per  cent  have  not  been  to  a  dentist  within  the  last 
year. 

That  nearly  19  per  cent  do  not  own  a  tooth  brush. 

That  50  per  cent  do  not  use  a  tooth  brush  regularly. 

The  above  'facts  are  in  harmony  with  countless  other  in- 
vestigations. It  is  always  found  that  75  to  90  per  cent  of  the 
school  children  have  at  least  one  decaying  tooth,  and  that  half 
the  children  have  ordinarily  from  three  to  five.  Comparison 
of  the  different  schools  will  show  that  while  some  schools  are 
better  than  others,  the  conditions  on  the  whole  are  very  gen- 
eral. 

It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  a  campaign  is  in  order  for 
the  improvement  of  the  children's  teeth.  Nowhere  else  will 
the  proverbial  "ounce  of  prevention"  go  farther.  Dental 
caries,  of  all  the  common  defects,  is  the  most  widespread.  It 
is  often  called  "the  people's  disease."  Moreover,  it  is  largely 
a  disease  of  childhood  and  youth.  If  teeth  are  kept  in  repair 
till  adult  life  they  do  not  readily  decay.  If  neglected  till  the 
age  of  20,  they  are  often  beyond  salvage.  A  dollar  spent  at 
the  right  time  will  save  many  dollars  of  dental  bills  later.  The 
best  time  to  treat  toothache  is  before  it  occurs.  When  a  tooth 
has  come  to  the  aching  point  the  best  time  for  saving  it  has 
gone  by. 


278  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

Since  parents  often  do  not  appreciate  the  truth  of  these 
facts,  and  do  not  realize  the  great  value  of  sound  teeth  for 
health,  it  is  necessary  for  the  school  to  make  frequent  dental 
examinations  of  all  the  children,  and  to  urge  parents  to  have 
defective  teeth  treated.  Where  parents  can  not  afford  to  pay 
dental  bills  the  work  should  be  done  gratis  by  school  dentists. 
The  school  dentist  is  indeed  as  indispensable  as  the  school 
doctor.  If  not  all  the  dental  work  can  be  done  at  once  it  is 
well  to  concentrate  on  the  younger  children  first,  as  this  is  the 
place  where  a  given  amount  of  preventive  work  goes  the 
farthest. 

General  weakness.  The  study  shows  that  5.3  per  cent  of 
the  children  are  classified  by  the  teachers  as  "frequently  ill," 
3.4  per  cent  as  "lacking  in  physical  energy,"  and  8.5  per  cent 
as  "not  mentally  alert."  We  are  justified  in  concluding  that 
probably  10  per  cent  in  all,  or  over  2000  children,  are  physically 
much  below  par.  These  conditions  are  not  peculiar  to  Salt 
Lake  'City,  but  have  been  found  everywhere,  including  such 
cities  as  Pasadena,  Berkeley,  Oakland,  Los  Angeles,  and  hun- 
dreds of  eastern  cities.  Children  of  this  class,  more  than  any 
other,  need  constant  health  supervision.  They  are  the  ones 
most  injured  by  poor  ventilation,  bad  lighting,  lack  of  oppor- 
tunity for  play,  etc.  To  look  after  their  welfare  is  far  more 
important  than  the  control  of  contagious  diseases,  important 
as  that  is. 

Mentally  or  morally  exceptional  children.  10  per  cent  of 
the  children  are  placed  by  the  teachers  in  this  group,  which 
includes  children  who  are  exceptionally  nervous,  irritable, 
morose,  lacking  in  selfcontrol,  prone  to  morbid  worry,  or  mor- 
ally abnormal.  It  is  an  important  function  of  the  department 
of  health  supervision  to  give  the  teachers  instruction  and  ad- 
vice in  the  handling  of  such  children.  The  child  who  is  mis- 
understood at  home  and  in  the  school  is  in  danger  of  develop- 
ing mental  or  moral  traits  which  will  make  his  life  miserable 
or  futile. 

Speech  defects.    One  and  eight-tenths  per  cent  of  the  chil- 


HEALTH  SUPERVISION.  279 

dren  are  classified  as  stutterers,  which  is  almost  exactly  the 
number  found  in  several  extensive  investigations  elsewhere. 

The  stuttering  child  is  greatly  handicapped  in  life  if  he 
does  not  recover.  Spontaneous  recovery  often  does  not  occur, 
and  as  a  result  the  child's  vocational  opportunities  are  greatly 
limited.  At  present  little  is  being  done  in  this  country  for 
stuttering  children.  Their  treatment  offers  a  free  field  for 
quacks  and  charlatans,  whose  prey  they  often  become. 

The  experience  of  other  countries,  however,  demonstrates 
that  80  per  cent  to  85  per  cent  of  cases  of  stuttering  among 
school  children  can  be  cured.  Several  countries  of  Europe 
conduct  special  classes  for  their  benefit.  Records  show  that 
cure  is  usually  effected  within  three  to  six  months.  It  is 
hoped  that  American  cities  will  soon  see  the  wisdom  of  this 
example. 

Malnutrition.  Figures  were  not  obtainable  directly  on 
this  point,  for  the  reason  that  teachers  are  not  able  to  ascer- 
tain the  facts.  In  some  of  the  schools,  however,  the  exper- 
ienced eye  can  detect  large  numbers  of  children  who  are  evi- 
dently ill-nourished.  It  is  hardly  likely  that  this  is  due  in 
many  cases  to  actual  insufficiency  of  food.  There  are  many 
other  causes  of  malnutrition,  such  as  unwise  choice  of  foods, 
improper  cooking,  weakness  of  the  powers  of  digestion  and 
assimilation,  etc.  Parental  negligence  is  often  to  blame.  The 
results  of  the  health  questionnaire  show  that  11.4  per  cent 
of  the  children  do  not  breakfast  regularly,  and  that  9.1  per 
cent  sometimes  miss  lunch.  The  health  department  has  no 
duty  more  important  than  that  of  identifying  the  ill-nourished 
children,  and  the  school  department  no  more  urgent  duty  than 
that  of  ameliorating  their  condition. 

School  lunches  are  one  means  of  helping  ill-nourished 
children.  Lunches  ought  to  be  served  in  several  schools,  such 
as  Fremont,  Bonneville,  Franklin,  Lincoln,  Jackson  and  Riv- 
erside. Where  the  children  cannot  afford  to  pay  the  cost  of 
a  meal  the  expense  should  be  borne  by  the  board  of  educa- 
tion. Much  good  can  also  be  accomplished  by  means  of  health 


280 


SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 


leaflets  issued  to  parents,  setting  forth  in  simple  language  the 
most  important  rules  for  the  care  and  feeding  of  children. 
The  school  can  co-operate  further  by  giving  greater  emphasis 
to  domestic  science,  play,  personal  hygiene,  etc. 


HAVE  HEADACHE  OFTEN 
HAVL  EARACHE  OFTEN 
DEFECTIVE  HEARING 
DEFECTIVE  VISION 
SORE  THROAT  OFTEN 
OBSTRUCTED  BREATH! 
BAD  CONDITION  Of  MOUTH 
HAVE  NEVER  BEEN  TO-A  DENTIST 
DO  NOT  HAVE  A  TOOTHBRUSH 
DONOTU5ETD(lBRU5t1l{[6ULAI(l 
FREQUENTLY    111 
NOT  MENTALLY  ALERT 
MENTALLY  PECULIAR 
DO  NOT  BREAKFAST  REGULARLY 
SOMETIMES  MISS  LUNCH 
STUTTER  OR STAfAMER 


FIG.  43.     SHOWING  SOME  HEALTH  CONDITIONS 

AMONG  THE  SCHOOL  CHILDREN  OF 

SALT  LAKE  CITY. 

Health  work  should  be  extended.  The  foregoing  discussion 
gives  an  idea  of  the  'broad  responsibilities  of  a  school  health 
department.  The  control  of  contagious  disease  is  but  one  of 
its  many  functions,  and  by  no  means  the  most  important. 
There  are  at  least  a  half  dozen  other  lines  of  work  fully  as 
important.  The  old  conception,  which  would  limit  the  func- 


HEALTH  SUPERVISION.  281 

tion  of  the  school  to  the  cultivation  of  the  child's  mind,  is  now 
obsolete.  Children  should  not  be  taught  as  though  they  were 
disembodied  spirits.  In  thousands  of  cases  defective  bodies 
largely  nullify  educational  efforts.  Social  responsibility  for 
children's  health  is  no  less  than  for  their  intellectual  develop- 
ment, and  it  is  becoming  increasingly  clear  that  the  best  place 
to  lodge  this  responsibility  for  children  of  school  age  is  with 
a  well  organized  department  of  school-health  supervision. 

Conclusions  and  recommendations.  As  a  result  of  this 
study  the  following  conclusions  and  recommendations  seem 
warranted. 

1.  The  school  health  work  is  excellent  as  far  as  it  goes. 
The  handling  of  contagious  disease  is  according  to  the  most 
approved   methods   and   other  valuable   work  is  being  done. 
However,  the  scope  of  the  department  should  be  enlarged  so 
as  to  make  possible  greater  attention  to  conditions  of  defect 
other  than  contagious  disease. 

2.  The  needed  expansions  would  include : 

(a)  Thorough  medical  examination  of  each  child  at  least 

every  second  year. 

(b)  Annual   tests   of  vision   and  hearing  by   the   teach- 

ers. 

(c)  Improvment  of  conditions  of  the  teeth  and  mouth. 

(d)  Extension  of  the  follow-up  service. 

(e)  The  hygienic  supervision   of  athletics  and  physical 

education. 

(f)  Systematic   instruction   of   the    teachers   in   matters 

pertaining  to  child  hygiene. 

(g)  The   establishment   by   the   board   of    education    of 

school  lunches,  school  baths,  increased  play  facil- 
ities, openair  schools  and  other  special  classes. 
Facts  have  been  presented  which  show  that  chronic  physi- 
cal defects  exist  in  great  number  in  the  children  of  the  city, 
and  that  the  health  work  thus  far  undertaken  has  given  only 
minor  attention  to  these. 

3.  The  necessary  extensions  of  the  work  will  require  a 


282  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

number  of  additional  physicians  and  nurses,  and  at  least  two 
half-time  dentists.  The  annual  'budget  for  this  work  should 
not  be  less  than  $15,000  and  it  ought  to  approximate  $20,000. 
4.  It  is  recommended  that  for  the  present  the  work  re- 
main under  the  charge  of  the  department  of  health,  particu- 
larly since  the  board  of  education  would  find  some  diffi- 
culty in  supporting  it  on  the  right  scale.  There  is  every 
reason  to  believe  that  the  present  administration  of  the  board 
of  health  will  bring  about  needed  expansions  as  rapidly  as 
possible.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  a  change 
of  administration  in  the  city  health  department  may  at  any 
time  make  it  imperative  for  the  board  of  education  to  assume 
control.* 


*Further  data  in  support  of  the  recommendations  made  in  this 
chapter  will  be  found  in  the  following1  books  published  by  Houghton, 
Mifflin  Co.;  The  Hygiene  of  the  School  Child,  by  Lewis  M.  Terman: 
Health  Work  in  the  School,  by  Hoag  and  Terman;  The  Teacher's  Health, 
by  Lewis  M.  Terman. 


PHYSICAL  EDUCATION.  283 

CHAPTER  XII. 

PHYSICAL  EDUCATION,  PLAYGROUND  ACTIVITIES, 
AND  HYGIENE  TEACHING. 

(Terman.) 

I.     PHYSICAL  EDUCATION. 

The  physical  training-  work  as  carried  on  at  present  in  the 
grades  below  the  high  school  is  of  limited  value.  The  fault 
lies  not  so  much  in  the  methods  employed  to  attain  the  end 
sought  as  in  the  fundamentally  wrong  conception  as  to  what 
the  purpose  of  a  department  of  physical  education  should  be. 

In  order  to  make  the  criticism  clear  we  may  distinguish 
two  types  of  physical  education : 

Two  types  of  physical  education.  The  first  relies  chiefly  on 
indoor  calisthenic  exercises,  marches,  drills,  etc.,  and  on  mild 
forms  of  directed  play  which  can  be  carried  on  in  the  class- 
rooms. This  type  is  inevitably  formal,  makes  little  appeal  to 
the  child's  interests,  fails  to  arose  initiative,  has  no  moral  or 
social  value,  and  makes  little  or  no  contribution  to  health, 
the  chief  end  of  physical  education.  The  most  that  can  be 
said  for  it  is  that  children  occasionally  welcome  it  as  a  relaxa- 
tion from  more  strenuous  mental  work,  and  that  certain  phases 
of  it  (dancing,  marching,  etc.)  have  an  aesthetic  value.  It  is 
a  type  which  once  had  wider  vogue  than  at  present,  though 
it  lingers  still  in  occasional  school  systems  where  German  ideals 
of  formal  drill  and  discipline  have  not  been  replaced  by  Amer- 
ican ideals  of  personal  initiative  and  individuality. 

The  second  type  places  the  emphasis  on  vigorous  out-door 
recreation,  including  spontaneous  play,  organized  group  games, 
and  other  playground  activities.  Recreation  of  this  kind  ap- 
peals to  the  most  fundamental  interests  of  child  life,  cultivates 
initiative,  affords  constant  and  powerful  training  in  moral  be- 
havior, stimulates  the  development  of  social  as  contrasted  with 
non-social  or  anti-social  traits,  and  promotes  health  as  nothing 


284  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

else  can.  This  is  the  kind  of  physical  education  which  is  being- 
fostered  so  well  by  the  rapidly  developing  playground  move- 
ment. It  is  unquestionably  and  justifiably  destined  to  sup- 
plant everywhere  the  more  formal  type  of  physical  training 
which  we  have  first  described. 

These  two  types  are  not  necessarily  mutually  exclusive,  but 
may,  of  course,  be  combined  in  various  proportions.  The  con- 
trast serves,  however,  to  make  clear  a  fundamental  distinction, 
and  is  especially  serviceable  in  any  evaluation  of  the  physical 
training  given  in  Salt  Lake  City. 

The  type  in  Salt  Lake  City.  Here  the  work  is  molded 
mainly  and  purposely  after  the  first  type.  Practically  all  of  it 
is  carried  on  indoors,  either  in  the  hall-ways  or  the  class  rooms. 
The  supervisor  and  assistant  go  from  room  to  room,  taking 
each  class  separately  for  drills,  marches,  dances,  calisthenic  ex- 
ercises, and  indoor  games.  Teachers  are  instructed  how  to 
carry  on  these  exercises  and  are  expected  to  give  them  daily 
if  the  special  instructor  is  not  present.  Many  of  these  exercises, 
as  given  both  by  the  special  instructors  and  the  regular  teach- 
ers, were  witnessed  by  all  the  members  of  the  survey  commis- 
sion. They  were  found,  with  the  exception  of  the  dancing, 
uninteresting  to  the  children,  formal,  void  of  hygenic  value, 
and  barren  of  the  other  results  for  which  a  department  of 
physical  education  is  supposed  to  exist.  The  so-called  "indoor 
games"  are  for  the  most  part  games  in  name  only.  They  are 
not  only  formal  and  dead  but  often  inane.  The  following  is 
offered  as  an  average  and  fair  example  of  the  kind  of  physical 
education  carried  on  in  the  grades  below  the  high  school. 

An  average  and  fair  example  of  the  indoor  games.  Time, 
9  :30  a.  m.  Place,  regular  classroom,  somewhat  dusty  and  with 
windows  closed.  (Outdoors  the  air  is  balmy  and  the  school 
yard  is  flooded  with  sunshine).  Class,  fourth  or  fifth  grade 
boys  and  girls.  Purpose  of  the  games  was  stated  as  "relaxa- 
tion from  mental  strain."  (The  school  has  been  in  session 
30  minutes,  and  the  pupils  have  just  gotten  well  down  to 
work). 


PHYSICAL  EDUCATION.  285 

Four  games  are  played  in  succession.  The  first,  which 
was  the  best,  may  be  described  as  a  "writing  relay."  The 
front  pupil  in  each  row  is  given  a  piece  of  chalk.  At  a  given 
signal  this  is  to  be  handed  back  over  the  right  shoulder  to 
the  pupil  behind,  and  by  that  one  to  the  next,  and  so  on 
until  it  reaches  the  last  pupil,  who  then  starts  it  forward  over 
the  left  shoulder.  When  the  chalk  has  made  the  round  trip, 
back  over  the  right  shoulder  and  forward  over  the  left,  the 
pupil  in  the  front  seat  rushes  to  the  blackboard  and  hastily 
writes  the  name  of  the  school.  Meanwhile  the  other  pupils  in 
the  row  move  forward  one  seat,  leaving  only  the  rear  seat  va- 
cant. After  hastily  scratching  the  word  on  the  blackboard 
the  pupil  rushes  to  the  back  seat  and  passes  the  chalk  forward 
again  over  the  left  shoulder,  and  when  it  reaches  the  one  in 
the  first  seat  the  process  of  writing  the  word,  moving  for- 
ward, and  once  more  relaying  the  chalk  to  the  front  is  re- 
peated. This  is  kept  up  until  all  the  pupils  of  each  row  have 
had  a  chance  to  scraw7!  the  name  of  the  school  on  the  black 
board.  An  attempt  is  then  made  to  judge  the  writing  of  the 
pupils  of  each  row  according  to  merit,  but  it  is  found  that  all 
of  it  is  equally  without  merit  owing  to  the  haste  with  which  it 
was  done. 

The  second  "game"  may  be  called  an  "eraser  relay."  It 
consisted  chiefly  of  passing  an  eraser  back  along  the  row  over 
one  shoulder  and  forward  over  the  other,  with  a  little  turning 
and  shifting  of  seats  during  the  process.  No  contest  element 
or  other  motive  was  evident,  and  the  main  result  of  the  game 
was  to  thicken  the  already  dustladen  air  of  the  schoolroom 
with  clouds  of  chalk  particles  raised  by  the  dropping  of 
erasers. 

The  third  exercise  is  impossible  to  describe  because  it 
apparently  involved  no  definite  procedure,  and  no  logical  be- 
ginning, middle,  or  end.  It  consisted  in  having  children  at- 
tend, turn,  stand,  exchange  seats;  then  stand,  turn,  and  sit 
again,  all  by  staccato  command.  The  rule  for  exchanging  seats 
was  not  clear  to  the  observer  or  to  the  children,  most  of  whom 


286  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

got  lost  and  confused  in  the  process.  When  this  had  been  kept 
up  about  two  minutes  the  observer  was  asked  to  judge  which 
row  had  done  best,  but  he  was  obliged  to  confess  that  he  had 
seen  nothing  which  could  be  judged. 

The  fourth  game  was  a  running  relay,  from  the  front  to 
the  back  of  the  room  and  return,  involving  again  the  transfer 
of  an  eraser  at  each  link  of  the  relay.  It  is  unnecessary  to 
describe  it  in  detail.  Like  the  others,  it  was  a  mockery  of 
health-giving  exercise  and  a  travesty  of  real  play. 

The  pupils  returned  to  their  regular  work,  with  apparent 
relief,  and  for  the  remaining  two  hours  of  the  forenoon  in- 
haled at  each  breath  probably  ten  to  twenty  times  as  many 
injurious  dust  particles  as  would  have  been  the  case  had  the 
exercises  been  taken  out  of  doors,  or  not  taken  at  all. 

Other  exercises  seen.  The  graded  course  in  dancing  ad- 
mits of  more  favorable  comment.  The  dances  were  usually 
pretty,  graceful,  and  much  enjoyed  by  the  pupils.  It  is  recom- 
mended that  this  phase  of  the  physical  education  be  retained, 
but  that  always,  when  possible,  the  dancing  be  carried  out  in 
the  open  air  instead  of  in  the  halls,  as  at  present.  The  de- 
sirability of  more  attention  to  folk-dancing  may  be  suggested. 

Most  of  the  other  exercises  given  in  the  hall-ways  should 
be  abandoned,  or  if  any  are  retained  they  should  be  given  out 
of  doors,  weather  permitting.  But  nothing  can  foe  said  in 
favor  of  such  an  exercise  as  the  following,  wherever  given : 

Second  grade  class,  in  a  basement  hall-way  dark  enough 
to  require  artificial  lighting;  time  10  A.  M. ;  weather  outside 
beautifully  clear  and  warm.  The  children  are  arranged  in  a 
circle,  and  following  the  example  of  the  leader  each  holds  his 
hands  in  front  of  chest,  elbows  flexed,  and  repeats  in  a  sing- 
song tone  "one,  two,  three,  four"  (turning  the  hands  over 
one  another  so  as  to  make  one  revolution  at  each  count) ;  "one, 
two,  three,  four"  (this  time  rotating  the  hands  four  times  in 
the  reversed  direction;  "one,  two"  (bringing  the  two  fists 
together  twice  on  a  horizontal  line) ;  "one,  two"  (striking  one 
fist  twice  on  top  of  the  other) ;  "tra  la  la,  tra  la  la"  (moving 


PHYSICAL  EDUCATION.  287 

forward  a  few  steps).  The  purpose  of  this  exercise  was  stated 
to  be  "health",  but  the  observer  was  somewhat  at  a  loss  to 
see  the  connection,  and  the  one  in  charge  did  not  seem  able  to 
make  it  clear. 

The  above  concrete  descriptions  w7ill  serve  to  illustrate  the 
type  of  work  which  was  witnessed  over  and  over  again  in  all 
parts  of  the  city  by  the  members  of  the  survey  staff.  The 
examples  given  are  in  no  way  whatever  exceptional.  It  is 
unnecessary  to  dwell  on  the  futility  of  so-called  physical  train- 
ing of  this  type,  or  to  emphasize  the  absurdity  of  carrying  on 
the  exercises  in  dusty  classrooms  and  dark  basement  halls. 
There  may  be  some  excuse  for  indoor  physical  training  in  the 
schools  located  near  the  center  of  New  York  City ;  there  is  no 
excuse  in  Salt  Lake  City,  even  though  some  of  the  school 
grounds  are  of  scanty  dimensions.  It  is  an  open  question 
whether  most  of  the  physical  training  witnessed  was  not  more 
injurious  to  the  pupils  than  beneficial. 

Character  of  the  yard  play.  Playground  activities  are  too 
much  neglected.  Children  on  the  school  grounds  were  rarely 
seen  to  engage  in  real  play  during  recess  periods.  Jumping  up 
and  down,  pushing  and  shoving,  promiscuous  chasing,  and 
boisterous  horse-play  were  much  more  in  evidence  than  play. 
Just  standing  around  was  still  more  common.  Theoretically 
there  exists  a  curriculum  of  plays  and  games  for  the  children 
of  the  grades,  but  it  does  not  seem  to  be  in  operation. 
The  indoor  exercises  of  the  formal  kind  have  been  given  the 
right  of  way  for  the  reason  that  they  are  frankly  claimed  to 
have  the  greater  value. 

A  partial  exception  should  be  made  in  regard  to  the  inter- 
school  games  of  baseball  and  basketball,  which  occur  during 
the  last  month  of  the  school  year.  These  are  fairly  numerous, 
are  well-managed,  and  seem  to  arouse  much  interest.  Grades 
five  to  eight  are  represented  in  the  games,  though  of  course 
only  a  minority  of  the  children  in  these  grades  can  belong  to 
the  teams. 

On  the   whole,  however,   and  particularly  for  the   lower 


288  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

grades,  the  work  of  the  physical  training  department  needs 
to  be  reorganized  on  a  different  basis.  Its  purpose  should  be 
not  merely  relaxation  from  mental  work,  but  the  promotion 
of  health  through  vigorous  outdoor  exercise,  and  the  develop- 
ment of  such  a  love  of  outdoor  plays  and  sports  as  will  function 
through  life  as  a  cheap  form  of  health  insurance.  We  are 
rapidly  coming  to  understand  that  plays  and  games  have  an 
educational  value  along  moral  and  social  lines  hardly  less 
important  than  their  hygienic  value.  Individual  initiative,  the 
give-and-take  spirit,  resourcefulness,  ready  judgment,  willing- 
ness to  subordinate  personal  to  group  interests,  loyalty,  co- 
operation, and  social  understanding  are  all  significantly  pro- 
moted by  the  right  kind  of  play. 

To  insure  such  a  rich  development  of  the  play  life  needs  to 
be  encouraged  and  directed.  Without  direction,  play  on  the 
average  school  ground  is  likely  to  be  desultory,  lacking  in 
variety,  and  almost  void  of  educational  significance.  It  is  of 
course  not  necessary  or  desirable  that  play  supervision  be 
carried  to  the  point  where  spontaneity  and  initiative  are  de- 
stroyed. It  is  not  argued  that  children  should  be  driven 
through  games  held  as  set  and  formal  exercises.  What  is 
meant  is  that  children  should  be  taught  and  encouraged  to 
play  a  large  variety  of  outdoor  games,  selected  with  special 
reference  to  definite  stages  of  development  of  the  play  interests 
and  physical  capacities. 

Play  teachers  needed.  To  this  end  there  should  be  play 
leaders  on  every  playground  during  recesses  and,  if  possible, 
before  and  after  school  hours.  In  every  school  there  are  teach- 
ers temperamentally  adapted  to  this  kind  of  work.  One  ener- 
getic full-time  assistant,  working  under  the  direction1  of  a 
supervisor  of  physical  education,  could  furnish  these  teacher 
play-leaders  the  necessary  instruction  for  carrying  on  the 
work.  Such  an  assistant  could  probably  be  secured  for  about 
$1500.  In  addition  it  might  be  necessary  to  pay  two  or  three 
teachers  at  each  school  a  slight  increase  of  salary  for  their  ser- 
vice as  play  leaders  during  intermission,  or  a  somewhat  more 
substantial  increase  for  play  supervision  after  school  hours. 


PHYSICAL  EDUCATION.  289 

Over  all  these,  and  as  guiding  spirit  of  their  work,  would 
be  the  general  supervisor  of  physical  education,  whose  salary 
should  approximate  that  which  is  now  paid,  and  whose  duties 
should  include,  as  now,  supervision  of  physical  education  in  the 
high  schools.  Unlimited  energy,  the  play  spirit,  social  tact, 
and  moral  leadership  are  among  the  essential  qualifications 
for  such  a  position.  The  director  of  physical  education  who  is 
endowed  with  the  proper  force  of  character  and  with  an  inspir- 
ing personality  exerts  a  direct  and  wholesome  influence  on 
every  child  in  the  school  system.  Under  such  an  (Organization 
much  could  'be  accomplished,  notwithstanding  the  inadequacy 
of  playground  facilities  in  many  parts  of  the  city. 

Physical  education  in  the  high  schools.  There  are  four 
assistants  in  physical  training  in  the  high  schools,  one  for 
boys  and  one  for  girls  in  each  of  the  two  schools.  The  women 
assistants  are  paid  $800  and  $1000;  the  men,  $1300  and  $1400. 
The  force  is  adequate  in  size,  'but  the  lower  salaries  are  not 
large  enough  to  retain  the  services  of  teachers  who  are  prop- 
erly equipped  and  suitably  endowed  for  the  work. 

The  military  drill.  The  main  criticism  of  the  physical 
training  in  the  high  schools,  however,  is  that  the  system  of 
compulsory  military  instruction  employed  monopolizes  the  time 
of  the  boys  to  such  an  extent  (4%  hours  a  week)  that  the 
real  work  of  physical  education  is  necessarily  relegated  to  a 
minor  place.  Military  training  may  have,  and  probably  does 
have,  a  certain  amount  of  value,  but  a  compulsory  system 
which  takes  so  much  of  the  pupil's  time  and  energy  as  to 
reduce  other  forms  of  physical  training  to  an  extreme  mini- 
mum is  of  questionable  worth.  Military  drill  cannot  compete 
with  games  in  the  cultivation  of  such  desirable  traits  as  initia- 
tive, resourcefulness,  social  co-operation,  group  loyalty,  and 
love  of  play.  Moreover  it  is  of  doubtful  value  from  the  hy- 
gienic point  of  view.  The  severity  of  the  drill  (Butt's  Manual, 
designed  for  use  with  adult  soldiers,  is  closely  followed)  would 
not  tax  the  strength  and  endurance  of  the  mature  soldier  who 


290  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

has  been  picked  on  the  basis  of  physical  fitness,  but  it  is  entire- 
ly unsuited  to  the  physical  capacity  of  many  of  the  younger, 
weaker,  and  immature  high  school  boys. 

Such  a  system  of  uniform  and  vigorous  exercise  for  young 
and  old,  weak  and  strong,  mature  and  immature,  defective  and 
sound,  transgresses  the  most  fundamental  laws  of  physical 
training.  The  weight  of  the  gun  which  is  carried  (not  far  from 
eight  pounds)  is  entirely  too  great  for  the  lighter  boys,  and 
the  necessity  of  carrying  it  always  on  the  same  shoulder  pre- 
disposes, in  the  case  of  young  boys  whose  bones  are  still  flex- 
ible, to  spinal  curvature  and  deformity  of  the  chest.  The 
clothing  required  is  not  such  as  should  be  worn  during  vig- 
orous exercise,  and  bathing  facilities  are  not  sufficient  to  en- 
able all  to  take  a  bath  immediately  after  the  drill.  Add  to 
these  considerations  the  fact  that  the  military  training  is  not 
under  the  direction  of  the  department  of  physical  education, 
and  is  therefore  carried  on  without  expert  hygienic  or  medical 
supervision  of  any  kind,  and  we  have  a  condition  which  is 
positively  pernicious  and  dangerous. 

A  member  of  the  school  system,  who  has  had  ample  oppor- 
tunity to  learn  the  facts,  informed  members  of  the  survey 
staff  that  no  less  than  eighteen  cases  of  faintings  during  or 
after  drill  had  come  to  his  attention.  These  had  all  occurred 
in  the  last  three  years.  Faintings  and  temporary  prostrations, 
however,  are  not  as  serious  as  the  more  concealed  and  latent 
injuries  likely  to  be  produced  in  those  who  have  some  organic 
impairment,  such  as  heart  lesion,  weak  lungs,  diseased  kidneys, 
etc. 

The  military  drill  of  the  high  schools  is  open  to  criticism 
on  still  other  grounds.  The  cost  of  a  uniform  is  not  far  from 
$16,  which  is  'fully  equal  to  the  average  cost  of  text  books  for 
three  years.  This  must  be  a  serious  burden  to  many  pupils, 
and  as  long  as  this  expenditure  is  compulsory  the  high  school 
can  hardly  be  regarded  a  free  school.  Many  would  also  ques- 
tion the  political  and  moral  justification  of  military  training 
in  the  public  schools  of  a  democratic  and  peace-loving  nation, 


PHYSICAL  EDUCATION.  291 

but  as  this  aspect  of  the  question  is  open  to  debate  it  will  not 
be  urged  in  this  report. 

Better  physical  training  desirable.  There  are  other  rea- 
sons of  sufficient  number  and  cogency  to  justify  the  recom- 
mendation that  the  system  of  military  training  be  dropped, 
and  that  the  time  'be  given  over  to  more  educational  lines  of 
physical  training,  including  gymnastics  and  organized  games 
and  sports  under  the  leadership  of  well  trained  and  well  paid 
instructors. 

The  present  corps  of  instructors  is  adequate  in  number 
to  take  care  of  the  proposed  enlargement  of  the  physical  train- 
ing work.  It  is  well  to  emphasize,  however,  that  the  high 
school  teacher  of  physical  training  should  have  as  large  a 
salary  as  other  members  of  the  high  school  teaching  force.  It 
is  harder,  in  fact,  to  find  a  first  class  teacher  in  this  line  than 
in  Latin,  mathematics,  or  history. 

It  would  not  be  consonant  with  the  aim  of  this  report  to 
describe  in  detail  the  particular  activities  which  the  depart- 
ment of  physical  training  should  carry  on  in  the  high  schools. 
All  of  this  can  safely  be  left  to  the  instructors,  providing 
proper  care  has  been  exercised  in  choosing  them.  In  all  cases 
they  should  have  had  special  training  for  such  work.  No 
greater  mistake  could  be  made  than  to  select  a  young  college 
graduate  merely  on  the  strength  of  his  enviable  athletic  record. 
The  professional  training  demanded  for  this  work  includes 
courses  in  personal  hygiene,  public  health,  advanced  physi- 
ology with  special  emphasis  in  the  physiology  of  exercise,  the 
theory  and  practice  of  physical  education,  and  the  psychology 
and  hygiene  of  adolescence.  All  the  leading  universities  of 
the  country  give  such  courses,  and  only  candidates  with  a  lib- 
eral professional  training  of  this  type  should  be  considered. 
In  order  to  secure  and  retain  such  persons,  however,  it  will 
certainly  be  necessary  to  go  beyond  some  of  the  salaries  now 
paid  to  the  teachers  of  physical  training  in  the  high  schools. 


292  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 


II.     PLAYGROUND  ACTIVITIES. 

Small  school  playgrounds.  Owing  to  short-sightedness  in 
earlier  years,  Salt  Lake  City  is  very  poorly  supplied  with  play- 
ground space.  This  condition  presents  a  surprising  and  pain- 
ful contrast  with  the  spacious  residence  lots  throughout  the 
city,  and  with  the  absence  of  crowded  tenement  districts.  So 
serious  has  been  the  neglect  that  the  playground  facilities  are 
not  superior  to  those  of  many  cities  far  older  and  many  times 
as  populous.  The  situation  is  fully  appreciated  by  the  pre- 
sent board  of  education,  and  everything  possible  is  being  done 
to  provide  the  newer  schools  with  liberal  playgrounds.  The 
task  of  making  good  the  neglect  of  former  years  still  remains, 
however,  and  presents  a  serious  financial  and  educational 
problem. 

The  table  on  p.  223  shows  the  number  of  square  feet  per 
child  in  the  entire  site  of  each  school,  including  the  space 
occupied  by  the  building,  and  the  drawing  on  p.  224  shows 
the  percentage  of  children  attending  school  which  have  play- 
grounds of  various  amounts  of  space  per  child. 

It  will  be  seen  from  this  table  that  the  following  schools 
present  the  worst  conditions  in  this  respect : — Emerson,  Grant, 
Fremont,  Oquirrh,  Longfellow,  Lafayette,  Lowell,  Franklin, 
Wasatch,  and  Hamilton.  We'bster,  Sumner,  Lincoln,  Forest, 
Jefferson,  and  Poplar  Grove  are  only  a  little  better  off.  In 
several  of  these  the  grounds  could  still  be  enlarged  by  the  pur- 
chase, at  fairly  reasonable  figures,  of  adjacent  unoccupied  or 
little  improved  lots. 

In  the  erection  of  future  school  buildings  in  the  outlying 
districts  there  will  be  no  excuse  for  failure  to  provide  ample 
room.  Five  acres  should  be  considered  the  minimum  for 
schools  which  are  likely  to  enroll  any  considerable  number  of 
pupils  in  the  next  fifty  or  one  hundred  years.  In  a  rapidly 
growing  community  such  as  Salt  Lake  City  the  danger  is  al- 
ways on  the  side  of  short-sighted  economy.  A  mistake  of  this 
kind  becomes  increasingly  deplorable  as  the  years  go  by,  until, 


PLAYGROUND    ACTIVITIES.  293 

after  a  few  generations,  the  situation  is  both  acute  and  irre- 
mediable. It  is  a  sacred  duty  to  provide  not  only  for  the  wel- 
fare of  our  own  children,  but  also  for  the  welfare  of  those  who 
are  to  follow.  A  board  of  education  which  fails  of  its  duty 
in  this  regard  will  some  day  merit  and  probably  receive  the 
curses  of  those  whom  its  negligence  has  defrauded. 

Larger  use  of  playgrounds  desirable.  Mention  has  already 
been  made  of  the  unsatisfactory  use  made  of  the  playgrounds 
during  school  hours.  This  fault  seems  to  have  developed  main- 
ly in  recent  years  and  is  one  which  can  be  largely  remedied 
by  a  reorganization  of  the  department  of  physical  education 
along  the  lines  already  proposed. 

The  use  of  the  playground  out  of  school  hours  in  still 
more  important.  At  present  school  grounds  valued  at  approxi- 
mately a  half  million  dollars  are  idle  and  unproductive  a  large 
part  of  the  day.  The  real  waste  is  infinitely  greater  than  the 
corresponding  interest  loss  on  an  unproductive  financial  in- 
vestment of  a  commercial  kind,  for  it  is  a  waste  of  health  and 
of  educational  opportunity  which  can  not  be  measured  in  dol- 
lars and  cents.  The  remedy  is  to  open  the  playgrounds  for 
supervised  play  after  school  hours.  It  would  be  possible  to 
secure  regular  teachers  for  this  after-school  work  by  paying 
a  small  additional  salary,  say  $30  per  month  for  two  hours 
each  afternoon  and  half  days  on  Saturday. 

On  this  basis  the  total  expense  to  the  city  each  school 
year  would  not  exceed  $6000  for  twenty  such  playground  as- 
sistants. This  is  far  less  than  the  interest  on  the  value  of  the 
grounds  for  that  part  of  the  school  year  during  which  they  are 
unused. 

Vacation  playground  activities.  A  number  of  playgrounds 
have  been  kept  open  during  the  summer,  and  provided  with 
play  facilities  by  the  joint  action  of  the  board  of  education 
and  the  city  park  commission.  This  work  should  'be  extended, 
and  should  by  all  means  'be  taken  over  entirely  by  the  board 
of  education.  Its  control  belongs  there  as  much  as  does  the 


294  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

control  of  the  school  plant  during  the  school  year,  and  the 
unified  control  will  be  much  cheaper  for  the  city  in  the  end. 

The  present  division  of  playground  control  'between  the 
park  commission  and  the  board  of  education  has  led  to  an 
absurd  and  ridiculous  situation.  The  park  commission  equips 
a  number  of  school  yards  with  playground  apparatus  for  use 
during  the  summer,  but  when  school  begins  the  apparatus  is 
gathered  up  by  the  park  commission  and  stored  away  for  safe 
keeping  until  the  following  summer.  The  same  children  are 
there,  and  the  same  play  needs  are  present,  but  the  board  of 
education  is  now  in  control,  and  so,  in  order  to  facilitate  the 
bookkeeping  of  the  city  departments  the  apparatus  is  gathered 
up  and  carted  off.  The  only  way  for  the  board  of  education 
to  meet  the  issue  and  to  perform  its  obligations  to  the  recrea- 
tional needs  of  children  is  to  take  over  the  entire  responsibility 
of  the  school  playgrounds  and  keep  them  running  twelve 
months  in  the  year.  This  will  involve  some  expense  for 
salaries,  and  will  necessitate  the  purchase  of  a  good  deal  of 
playground  apparatus,  but  it  is  the  only  solution. 

It  is  not  deemed  necessary  to  argue  here  the  general  ques- 
tion as  to  the  desirability  of  ample  playgrounds  and  increased 
playground  supervision.  Everyone  who  is  acquainted  with 
recent  developments  in  the  playground  movement  knows  that 
this  question  has  been  settled  once  for  all.  Almost  every  city 
in  the  country,  which  is  not  educationally  benighted,  has  ac- 
cepted the  situation  and  is  making  an  effort  to  enlarge  and 
improve  its  recreational  facilities.  Any  other  attitude  is  not 
only  bad  educationally,  but  bad  socially,  morally,  and  eco- 
nomically as  well. 


HYGIENE    TEACHING. 


295 


III.     HYGIENE  TEACHING. 

The  present  course  of  instruction.  The  course  of  study  in 
physiology  and  hygiene  is  well  planned  and  modern  in  every 
respect.  The  texts,  which  could  hardly  have  been  better 
chosen,  include  the  following:  Gulick's  "Good  Health" 
(grades  3  and  4),  Gulick's  "Town  and  City"  (grades  5  and 
6A),  Gulick's  "The  Body  and  Its  Defenses"  (grade  6B),  and 
Ritchie's  "Primer  of  Sanitation"  (grades  7  and  8).  In  the 
first  two  grades  the  hygiene  instruction  properly  consists  of 
frequent  talks,  simple  in  nature,  but  definitely  planned  so  as 
to  acquaint  the  child  with  a  fairly  wide  range  of  elementary 
health  laws.  Throughout  the  course,  hygiene  instruction  right- 
ly takes  precedence  over  physiology  and  anatomy. 

The  time  given  to  the  subject  is  on  the  whole  hardly 
adequate.  In  certain  schools,  especially  is  this  true.  The 
distribution  of  time  devoted  to  hygiene  among  the  various 
schools  is  represented  for  the  different  grades  separately  in 
the  following  chart.  The  middle  line  shows  the  median  amount 


MINUTES  PER  WEEK 
2,00 


150 


100 


MAXIMUM 


MEDIUM 
MINIMUM 


ABABABABABABABAB 
I         IE         HE        IT      IF        S       131      3BQI 

FIG.  44.    SHOWING  MINUTES  PER  WEEK  DEVOTED  TO 
INSTRUCTION  IN  PHYSIOLOGY  AND  HYGIENE. 


296  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

of  time  per  week  for  the  city  as  a  whole,  the  lower  line  the 
amount  for  the  seho'ol  giving"  least,  and  the  upper  line  the 
amount  for  the  school  giving  most  time  to  the  subject,  in  all 
cases  the  time  including  both  recitation  and  study  periods. 

Practical  instruction.  Altogether  about  a  dozen  hygiene  les- 
sons were  witnessed  in  whole  or  in  part  by  the  various  members 
of  the  survey  staff.  The  instruction  ranged  from  excellent  to 
mediocre,  but  on  the  whole  was  of  superior  quality.  Especially 
commendable  was  the  effort,  frequently  observed,  to  make  the 
hygiene  instruction  carry  over  into  the  everyday  habits  of  the 
children.  The  children  in  one  school  (and  this  may  have  been 
true  in  other  schools  also)  had  been  organized  into  a  clean-up 
brigade,  and  were  engaged  in  abating  such  nuisances  and 
dangers  as  dirty  streets,  unclean  meat  shops,  and  breeding 
places  for  flies  and  mosquitoes.  The  Board  of  Health  lends 
its  active  support  to  such  work,  and  stands  ready  to  invoke 
the  authority  of  the  law,  if  necessary,  in  order  to  remedy  the 
evils  disclosed  by  the  school  pupils.  "Work  of  this  kind  goes 
beyond  mere  instruction  in  hygiene  and  becomes  training  for 
effective  citizenship. 

Another  well-directed  effort  toward  making  hygiene  in- 
struction practical  was  found  in  a  school  where  the  teachers, 
acting  under  the  direction  of  the  principal,  require  the  every- 
day practice  of  personal  cleanliness  as  a  necessary  condition 
of  receiving  a  passing  grade  in  the  su'bject.  In  other  instances, 
however,  the  lessons  wrere  bookish  and  theoretical.  That  great- 
er emphasis  could  well  be  placed  on  making  the  hygiene  in- 
struction practical  is  illustrated  by  such  facts  as  the  following : 
that  only  50  per  cent  of  the  pupils  in  the  grades  use  a  tooth 
brush  regularly ;  that  63  per  cent  have  not  been  to  a  dentist  in 
the  last  year  and  that  36.8  per  cent  have  never  been  to  one ; 
that  in  several  of  the  schools  personal  uncleanliness  and  lack 
of  neatness  are  common  among  the  children.  In  many  rooms 
the  last  is  attested  by  strong  and  disagreeable  odors  emanating 
from  the  unclean  bodies  and  clothing. 

The  buildings  negative  the  instruction.     In  this  connec- 


HYGIENE    TEACHING.  297 

tion  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  schools  themselves  do  not  set 
better  examples  of  hygiene.  The  effectiveness  of  hygiene  in- 
struction is  weakened  if  it  is  carried  on  in  school  buildings 
where  the  floors  are  dirty,  where  the  feather  duster  still  ling- 
ers, where  walls  and  ceilings  are  discolored,  where  classrooms 
and  halls  are  dark  and  dingy,  where  physical  training  is  un- 
necessarily carried  on  indoors,  where  bathing  facilities  are 
totally  lacking,  where  filthy  roller  towels  are  in  evidence, 
where  toilets  are  dark,  unclean,  loud-smelling,  and  crowded, 
or  where  disgusting  economies  are  practiced  in  the  supply  of 
toilet  paper.  Some  of  these  examples  are  before  the  children 
in  every  school,  and  certain  schools  are  guilty  of  every  sin 
above  listed. 

It  must  never  'be  forgotten  that  the  teaching  of  hygiene 
and  physiology  is  to  be  judged  solely  by  its  actual  influence 
on  the  lives  of  the  pupils.  However  ideal  the  course  of  study 
and  the  actual  instruction,  from  an  academic  standpoint,  the 
aim  of  the  work  is  attained  only  in  so  far  as  practical  results 
are  secured.  A  little  more  insistence  on  this  point  of  view, 
together  with  the  improvement  of  hygienic  practice  on  the 
part  of  the  school,  will  add  greatly  to  the  efficiency  of  the 
hygiene  instruction. 

Summary  and  recommendations.  On  the  basis  of  the  re- 
sults of  this  chapter  the  survey  makes  the  following  recom- 
mendations as  to  needs  and  lines  of  future  development : 

1.  Physical  education  as  carried  on  below  the  high  school 
is  based  on  a  fundamental  misconception  as  to  the  true  pur- 
pose of  such  work.    In  the  ^nain  it  is  extremely  formal,  is  car- 
ried on  chiefly  indoors,  and  has  little  significance  for  health. 
The  work  should  be  entirely  reorganized  and  directed  along 
the  lines  of  outdoor  play  and  other  recreational  activities.  The 
instruction  in   dancing,  however,   is   good  and  should  be  re- 
tained, with  somewhat  more  attention  to  folk-dancing. 

2.  The  playgrounds  in  about  half  of  the  schools  are  ex- 
tremely inadequate,  and  insufficient  use  is  being  made  of  those 
which  exist.     It  is  urged  that  a  number  of  the  present  play- 


298  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

grounds  be  enlarged,  that  the  school  authorities  endeavor  to 
anticipate  future  needs  in  providing  sites  for  new  buildings, 
that  the  school  playgrounds  be  equipped  with  apparatus  by  the 
school  board,  and  that  they  be  kept  open  under  paid  super- 
vision after  school  hours,  on  'Saturdays,  and  during  vacations. 

3.  It  is  recommended  that  education  through  play  be 
more  systematically  fostered  by  the  department  of  physical 
education,  and  that  a  sufficient  number  of  well-paid  assistants 
be  provided  for  this  purpose. 

4.  The  time  for  physical  education  in  the  high  schools 
is  too  much  monopolized  by  the  system  of  compulsory  military 
training.    It  is  recommended  that  the  military  training  either 
be  made  elective,  and  placed  under  the  direction  of  the  depart- 
ment of  physical  education,  or  that  it  be  eliminated  altogether. 
The  latter  is  perhaps  preferable.    As  conducted  at  present  the 
military  training  involves  serious  danger  to  the  health  of  many 
pupils  compelled  to  take  it. 

5.  The  hygiene  teaching  is  om  the  whole   good,  though 
in  certain  schools  hardly  enough  time  is  devoted  to  the  sub- 
ject.    In  certain  schools  commendable  devices  are  employed 
for  the  purpose  of  making  hygiene  teaching  effective  in  the 
daily  lives  of  children,  and  it  is  recommended  that  this  kind 
of  practical  hygiene  teaching  be  more  generally  emphasized. 

6.  It  is  suggested  that  the  effectiveness  of  hygiene  in- 
struction could  be  increased  by  the  correction  of  bad  hygienic 
examples  set  by  the  school  itself.     Improvements  in  this  line 
would  include  enlargement  of  playgrounds,  the  elimination  of 
dry  sweeping  and  dry  dusting,  the  installation  of  baths,  en- 
largement and  improvement  of  toilet  facilities,  the  elimination 
of  roller  towels,  the  use  of  liquid  soap,  and,  where  possible,  the 
correction  of  defects  in  lighting,  heating  and  ventilation. 


PART  IV 

Finances 


THE    FINANCIAL    PROBLEM. 


301 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
THE  FINANCIAL  PROBLEM. 

(Cubberly.) 

City  casts  for  maintenance.  In  the  istudy  of  costs  for  city 
maintenance  in  Salt  Lake  City,  with  special  reference  to 
schools,  the  city  will  'be  compared  chiefly  with  the  other  west- 
ern cities,  and  for  the  reason  that  only  where  the  costs  for 
service  and  materials  are  comparable  are  total  costs  compar- 
able. 

4 

Comparing  all  general  city  costs  in  Salt.  Lake  City  with 

TABLE  NO.  49. 

RANK  OF  SALT  LAKE  CITY  AMONG  SIXTEEN  WESTERN 

CITIES  IN  ITEMS  OF  EXPENDITURE  FOR 

CITY  MAINTENANCE. 


ITEMS 

Per  Capita  Cost  for 

Rank  of  Salt 
Lake  City  in 
Amoun 
Spent 

SaltLake 
City 

16  Western  Cities 

Average 

Median 

1. 

2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 

7. 
8. 

9. 
10. 

General   expenses   of   the 
city  government  

$1.44 
1.14 
.90 
1.43 
1.42 

.14 
6.71 

.16 
.42 
.12 

$1.84 
1.74 
1.76 
1.49 
2.09 

.30 
6.27 

.34 
.59 
.92 

$1.52 
1.47 
1.61 
1.45 
2.10 

.11 
5.73 

.35 
.51 
.23 

10th 
15th 
16th 
9th 
16th 

8th 
5th 

16th 
10th 
13th 

Police  department 

Fire  department  .    

Health  and  sanitation  
Care  of  streets 

Charities,  hospital  and  cor- 
rections                        

Schools    

Libraries,  art  galleries  and 
museums   

Parks  and  playgrounds  
Miscellaneous  expenses  .  .  . 

11. 

Total  per  capita  cost 

$  13.88 
3.29 

$  17.34 
3.06 

$  15.08 
2.70 

12th 
7th 

Interest  on  public  debt  .  .  . 

$  17.17     |$  20.40 

$  17.78 

13th 

the  fifteen  other  western  cities  first  used  in  Table  No.  3,  page 
12,  and  used  continuously  throughout  this  report,  we  get 
the  Table  No.  49,  calculated  from  the  U.  S.  Census  Bureau's 
last  published  volume  on  the  Statistics  of  Cities. 


302 


SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 


From  this  table  we  see  that  the  costs  for  all  items  of  city 
maintenance  in  Salt  Lake  City  are  low.  In  other  words,  it  is 
a  very  economically  administered  city.  The  figure  given  below 
shows  the  distribution  of  city  expenses  for  annual  maintenance, 
reduced  so  as  to  show  where  each  dollar  of  taxes  raised  goes. 


'* 


"S  *  /    ^ 

IW 


00 


HEALTH  &  SANITATION 


SCHOOLS 

*- 


FIG.  45.    HOW  SALT  LAKE  CITY  SPENDS  ITS  DOLLAR. 

Only  in  the  expenditures  for  schools  and  for  interest  on  the 
bonded  debt  do  the  costs  for  any  items  in  the  list  reach  the 
average  for  other  western  cities.  In  three  items  Salt  Lake 
City's  costs  are  the  lowest  of  the  list,  while  in  totals  the  city 
is  thirteenth  among  the  sixteen  cities.  The  larger  per  capita 


THE    FINANCIAL    PROBLEM. 


303 


expense  for  schools  is  only  what  would  be  expected  in  view  of 
the  large  number  of  children  in  the  population,  as  was  shown 
in  Table  No.  3,  page  12. 

Costs  per  capita  for  schools.  An  examination  of  the  per 
capita  costs  for  schools  in  the  twenty-six  cities  used  in  previous 
tables  in  this  report,  as  well  as  in  the  sixteen  western  cities 
with  which  comparison  has  also  been  made  from  time  to  time, 
gives  us  the  next  table.  This  shows  the  total  city  maintenance 
costs,  the  costs  per  capita  for  schools,  and  the  percentage  of  the 
total  city  expenses  for  annual  maintenance  that  go  to  the  sup- 
port of  public  education,  for  each  of  the  two  groups  of  cities. 

TABLE  NO.  50. 

SHOWING  PER    CAPITA    COSTS    FOR    CITY  MAINTEN- 
ANCE, INCLUDING  INTEREST  CHARGES,  AND 
PER  CAPITA  AND  PERCENTAGE 
AMOUNT  FOR  SCHOOLS.f 

I.     Western  Cities.* 


1.     San  Francisco,  Cal  
2.     Portland    Ore 

$36.09 
17.71 

$4.27 
4.73 

11.9% 
26.7 

3.     Tacoma,  Wash  

19.99 

4.95 

24.7 

4      Seattle   Wash 

22.15 

5.06 

24.8 

5.     Spokane  Wash    

18.87 

5.41 

29.7 

6      Butte    Mont 

18.25 

5.71 

31.6 

7      Denver   Colo              

21.00 

5.72 

28.6 

8      Sacramento   Cal 

17.49 

5.72 

32.7 

9      Oakland    Cal             

17.77 

5.74 

32.5 

10      San  Diego    Cal 

22.44 

6.01 

26.8 

11      San  Jose  Cal       

14.91 

6.26 

42.0 

12.     Salt  Lake  City,  Utah   .  .  . 
13      Berkeley  Cal           

17.17 
14.74 

6.71 

7.60 

39.1 
51.3 

14.     Colorado  Springs,  Colo. 
15     Los  Angeles    Cal      

19.63 
26.17 

7.64 
8.66 

38.9 
31.9 

16.     Pasadena,  Cal  

23.38 

10.11 

43.3 

Average  for  the  group 
Median  for  the  group  .  . 

$20.48 
19.27 

$6.27 
5.73 

32.3% 
31.8 

*Ogden  is  omitted  from  this  group  for  the  reason  that  the  United 
States  Census  Bureau  does  not  publish  financial  statistics  for  cities 
which  in  1910  had  less  than  30,000  inhabitants.  Ogden  population  in  1910 
was  25,580. 

tStatistics  here,  as  elsewhere,  are  from  the  U.  S.  Census  Bureau's 
last  issued  annual  volume  on  Statistics  of  Cities,  and  compare  all 
cities  for  the  year  1912-13. 


304 


SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 


TABLE  NO.  50,  CONTINUED. 

II.     Cities  of  the  class  of  Salt  Lake  City. 


CITY 

Total  Maintenance 
Cost  Per  Capita 

Cost  Per  Capita 
for  Schools 

Per  cent  of 
Total  for  Schools 

1.     Reading,  Pa  

$  9  33 

$  3  13 

33  6% 

2.     Bridgeport    Conn 

13  24 

3  29 

24  8 

3.     Lowell,  Mass.  .  . 

14  72 

3  99 

27  i 

4.     Lynn,  Mass  

15  63 

4  02 

25  g 

5.     Lawrence,   Mass  

14  40 

4  07 

28  2 

6.     Dayton,  Ohio   . 

14  46 

4  15 

28  7 

7.     Fall  River,  Mass 

14  99 

4  16 

27  g 

8.     Albany,  New  York  

17  10 

4  17 

24  4 

9.     Kansas  City,  Kan  

13.10 

4  22 

32  2 

10.     Troy  New  York 

18  40 

4  24 

23  1 

11.     Youngstown,  Ohio 

11  86 

4  37 

36  8 

12.     New  Bedford,  Mass  
13      Trenton   N  J 

18.57 
14  88 

4.41 
4  85 

23.8 
32  6 

14      Camden    N    J 

13  83 

4  90 

35  5 

15.     Tacoma,  Wash  

19  99 

4  95 

24  8 

16.     Omaha,  Neb  

20.82 

4  99 

24  0 

17.     Somerville,  Mass  

17.83 

5.04 

18  4 

18      Cambridge    Mass 

22  30 

5  14 

23  5 

19.     Grand  Rapids,  Mich  
20.     Duluth,  Minn  

13.81 
17.22 

5.21 
5.24 

37.8 
30  2 

21      Spokane  Wash 

18  87 

5  41 

29  7 

22      Yonkers    N  Y  

22.69 

6  22 

27  4 

23.     Hartford,  Conn  

20.94 

6.26 

30  0 

24.     Salt  Lake  City,  Utah  
25      Springfield   Mass  

17.17 
22.55 

6.71 

7  07 

39.1 
31  3 

26     Des  Moines,  Iowa  

16.86 

7.26 

33  6 

Average  for  the  group 
Median  for  the  group  .  . 

$16.75 
16.98 

$4.80 
4.88 

29.0% 
28.5 

Compared  with  first  half  of  the  eastern  cities  of  the  above 
table,  ;S'alt  Lake  City  appears  high,  both  in  the  per  capita 
cost  for  schools  and  in  the  percentage  of  city  funds  given  to 
education.  "With  the  second  part  of  the  eastern  cities  table, 
and  with  the  western  cities,  Salt  Lake  City  occupies  nearer  an 
average  position. 

Why  these  figures  are  misleading.  These  figures,  though, 
are  somewhat  misleading,  notwithstanding  they  are  the  ones 
commonly  used  in  comparing  costs.  In  the  first  place,  most 
eastern  cities  pay  a  much  lower  salary  schedule  to  women 


THE    FINANCIAL    PROBLEM.  305 

teachers  than  is  the  case  in  the  west,  and,  as  approximately 
65  per  cent  of  all  expenses  are  for  teachers'  salaries,  it  will 
be  seen  that  few  eastern  cities  can  with  fairness  be  compared 
with  western  cities  in  the  matter  of  per  capita  school  expendi- 
tures. An  eastern  city  spending  $4.00  per  capita  for  schools, 
and  paying  its  elementary  school  teachers  $40.00  a  month,  is 
exactly  the  same  as  a  middle  western  city  paying  its  teachers, 
$60.00  a  month  and  spending  $5.30  per  capita,  and  the  same 
as  a  western  city  paying  its  teachers  $80.00  a  month  and 
spending  $6.60  per  capita,  assuming  that  each  devotes  65  per 
cent  of  its  maintenance  costs  to  teachers'  salaries.  For  this 
reason  any  comparison  of  eastern  with  western  cities  is  likely 
to  be  very  misleading.  Accordingly,  we  shall  from  this  point 
on  compare  Salt  Lake  City  only  with  other  western  cities, 
where  salaries  and  other  school  costs  are  more  comparable. 

The  figures  given  in  the  last  table,  both  for  eastern  and 
western  cities,  are  also  misleading  for  the  reason  that  they 
fail  entirely  to  take  account  of  the  percentage  of  school  chil- 
dren in  the  total  population.  A  community  such  as  Salt  Lake 
City,  as  was  pointed  out  in  Chapter  I,  must  spend  more  money 
because  of  the  much  larger  number  of  children  it  contains. 
A  per  capita  expense  of  $6.71  for  schools,  and  39.1  per  cent  of 
the  total  city  maintenance  costs  for  education  may  at  first 
glance  look  large,  but,  as  will  be  shown  further  on,  it  really 
is  not  so.  The  large  number  of  school  children  in  the  city 
necessitates  a  high  per  capita  cost  for  schools,  without  the  cost 
per  child  educated  being  high  at  all,  while  the  large  percentage 
of  city  funds  devoted  to  schools  is  fictitious  for  the  reason  that 
all  city  costs  for  other  items  are  low.  If  Salt  Lake  City's  ex- 
penditures for  other  items  of  city  expense  were  at  as  high  a 
rate  as  is  the  case  in  many  western  cities,  the  percentage  de- 
voted to  education  would  be  reduced  to  somewhere  near  25 
to  30  per  cent.  This  would  be  low,  considering  the  large  num- 
ber of  children  of  school  age  in  the  population. 

A  real  basis  for  comparing  school  costs.  To  get  a  real 
basis  for  comparing  school  costs  we  must  take  into  considera- 


306  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

tioru  the  number  of  children  to  'be  educated,  and  reduce  all  per 
capita  costs  for  schools  to  what  it  costs  per  capita  for  each 
1  per  cent  of  the  school  population.  For  example,  if  a  city 
spends  $6.00  per  capita  for  schools,  and  12  per  cent  af  its 
population  consists  of  children  between  5  and  15  years  of 
age,  *  it  can  be  seen  that  it  spends  '50  cents  for  each  one  per 
cent  of  its  school  population.  If  another  city  also  spends 
$6.00  per  capita  and  has  15  per  cent  of  children,  this  second 
city  spends  but  40  cents  for  each  1  per  cent  of  its  school  popu- 
lation. Similarly,  a  third  city  having-  20  per  cent  of  children 
spends  but  30  cents  per  capita.  Though  each  city  is  given, 
in  statistical  tables,  as  spending  the  same  amount  per  capita 
of  its  population  for  schools,  in  reality  the  three  cities  are 
spending  entirely  different  amounts.  Any  real  comparison  of 
per  capita  costs  requires  that  we  first  reduce  our  cities  to  com- 
mon terms,  and  see  what  each  is  spending  for  each  1  per  cent 
of  its  school  population.  Using  the  age  groups  5  to  15,  and 
reducing  all  to  a  1  per  cent  basis,  we  get  the  next  table. 


*These  two  age  limits  are  used  in  this  report  because  for  them 
we  have  accurate  percentages  for  all  states  and  cities  of  the  United 
States,  collected  by  the  United  State  Census  Bureau.  They  correspond 
to  the  ages  from  the  kindergarten  to  the  completion  of  the  ninth  grade, 
if  the  pupil  advances  normally. 


THE    FINANCIAL    PROBLEM. 


30? 


TABLE  NO.  51. 


COST  PER  CAPITA  FOR  S'CHOOLS,  BASED  ON  EACH  ONE. 

PER  CENT  OF  CHILDREN  (FROM  5  TO  15)  IN 

THE  TOTAL  POPULATION. 


CITY 

Cost  per  capita 
total  population 
for  schools 

Per  cent  of  popu- 
lation 5  to  15 
years  of  age 

Cost  for  schools 
for  each  1%  of 
children  in  the 
population 

1      Tacoma    Wash  

$4.95 

15.2% 

$.32 

2      Salt  Lake  City    Utah 

6  71 

18.5 

.36 

3.     San  Francisco,  Cal  
4      Spokane    Wash     

4.27 
5.41 

11.9 
14.5 

.36 
.37 

5      Butte   Mont  

5.71 

15.1 

.37 

6      Denver    Colo 

5.72 

15.2 

.37 

7      Portland    Ore                    .... 

4.73 

12.0 

.39 

8      Seattle   Wash            

5.06 

12.5 

.40 

9      San  Diego    Cal    

6.01 

13.4 

.46 

10      Sacramento   Cal 

5.72 

12.1 

.47 

11      Oakland    Cal 

5.74 

14.1 

.47 

12      San  Jose    Cal              

6.26 

13.8 

.48 

13.     Colorado  Springs,  Colo  
14      Berkeley  Cal    

7.64 
7.60 

16.0 
14.7 

.48 
.52 

15      Los  Angeles    Cal              .... 

8.66 

13.0 

.67 

16.    Pasadena,  Cal  

10.11 

13.6 

.74 

Average  for  the  group  .  .  . 
Median  for  the  group  

$.45 
.43 

The  last  column  of  this  table  gives  a  real  basis  for  com- 
paring school  costs  in  different  cities, — that  is,  what  each  city 
is  spending  per  capita  for  each  one  per  cent  of  its  school 
children.  As  parochial  and  private  schools  have  never  nour- 
ished in  western  cities,  with  the  possible  exception  of  San 
Francisco,  the  comparison  of  costs  is  all  the  more  accurate. 
Similar  comparisons  for  the  twenty-five  cities  of  the  first  part 
of  Table  No.  50  show  a  range  of  from  30  cents  to  45  cents  for 
eastern  cities,  but  the  low  salaries  paid  women  teachers  there 
and  the  large  hold  of  both  private  and  parochial  schools  make 
the  comparisons  less  accurate  than  for  western  cities.  Hart- 
ford, Conn.,  however,  shows  a  per  capita  expense  of  40  cents 
for  each  1  per  cent  of  its  children  between  5  and  15  years  of 
age;  Des  Moines,  Iowa,  44  cents;  and  Springfield,  Mass.,  45 
cents. 


308 


SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 


The  median  western  cost.  It  will  be  seen  from  the  last 
column  of  the  last  table  given  that  the  average  cost  for  the 
sixteen  western  cities  is  45  cents,  as  against  Salt  Lake  City's 
36  cents,  and  that  the  median  western  cost  is  43  cents.  The 
cities  which  are  caring  properly  for  their  children  are  those 
which  are  spending  more  than  these  amounts.  Averages  and 
medians  show  only  a  half-way  point  between  good  conditions 
and  poor  conditions,  and  almost  never  represent  a  desirable 
stopping  place.  Still,  to  see  the  position  of  the  different  cities 
in  the  matter  of  caring  for  their  children,  and  to  set  up  a 
tentative  standard  for  school  maintenance,  let  us  take  the 
median  of  43  cents  as  a  standard  below  which  a  city  ought 
not  to  go,  and  apply  it  to  each  of  the  cities  of  the  table.  Mul- 
tiplying the  percentage  of  children  of  school  age  in  the  total 
population  by  the  median  cost  of  43  cents  for  each  1  per  cent, 
we  get  the  next  table. 


TABLE  NO.  52. 

MEDIAN  AND  ACTUAL  COST  PER  CAPITA  FOR  SCHOOLS 
FOR  WESTERN  CITIES. 


CITY 

%  of  popula- 
ion  from  5  to 
15  years 
of  age 

Desirable 
cost  per 
capita  S,43 
for  each 
1%of 
children 

Actual 
cost  per 
captia 

Excess  or 
deficit  over 
estimate 

1 

San  Francisco,  Cal  

11.9 

$5.12 

$4.27 

—  $    .85 

2 

Portland   Ore 

12  0 

5  16 

4  73 

—     .43 

3 

Sacramento,  Cal 

12  1 

5  20 

5.72 

+      .52 

4 

Seattle  Wash  

12.5 

5.38 

5.06 

—     .32 

5 

Los  Angeles,  Cal  

13.0 

5.59 

8.66 

+  3.07 

6 

San  Diego    Cal    .        ... 

13.4 

5.76 

6.01 

+      .25 

7 

Pasadena,  Cal  

13.6 

5.84 

10.11 

+  4.27 

g 

San  Jose   Cal 

13  8 

5  93 

6.26 

H-      .33 

q 

Oakland  Cal         

14.1 

6.06 

5.74 

—     .32 

10 

Spokane   Wash  

14.5 

6.24 

5.41 

—     .83 

11 

Berkeley   Cal 

14  7 

6.32 

7.60 

+  1.28 

1? 

Butte  Mont    

15.1 

6.49 

5.71 

—     .78 

13 

Tacoma  ^^ash 

15  2 

6.54 

4.95 

—  1.59 

14 

Denver  Colo                     .... 

15.2 

6.54 

5.72 

—     .82 

15. 
16. 

Colorado  Springs,  Colo.  .  .  . 
Salt   Lake   City,   Utah    .... 

16.0 
18.5 

6.88 
7.96 

7.46 
6.71 

4-     .58 
—  1.25 

THE    FINANCIAL    PROBLEM.  309 

Where  Salt  Lake  City  stands.  The  second  column  of  fig- 
ures shows  what  each  city  of  the  table  should  spend  per  capita 
of  the  total  population  for  the  maintenance  of  its  schools, 
merely  to  bring  that  city  up  to  the  median  point  for  the  sixteen 
western  cities.  To  bring  any  city  up  to  the  average  for  west- 
ern cities  would  cost  slightly  more.  For  Salt  Lake  City  it 
would  raise  the  desirable  per  capita  cost  from  $7.96  to  $8.33. 

On  the  basis  of  a  cost  of  $7.96  it  is  seen  that  'Salt  Lake 
City  is  spending,  on  the  maintenance  of  its  schools,  $1.25  less 
per  capita  of  the  total  population  than  it  should,  merely  to 
put  the  city  in  a  middle  position  in  the  matter  of  annual  school 
maintenance.  On  a  basis  of  a  total  population  of  110,000,  this 
would  mean  that  the  city  should  raise  and  expend  on  mainten- 
ance alone  $137,500  more  than  it  now  does,  merely  to  care  for 
its  present  children  as  well  as  is  done  in  the  median  western 
city.  To  rank  with  the  better  western  cities  in  the  matter  of 
public  education  would  mean  an  additional  expenditure  for 
maintenance  of  approximately  $200,000  a  year. 

These  figures  tally  well  with  the  statement  made  in  Chap- 
ter IV,  after  considering  the  increasing  number  of  pupils  per 
teacher,  that  the  city  needs  now  about  one  hundred  additional 
teachers  merely  to  care  properly  for  its  present  number  of 
children.  The  table  which  follows,  showing  the  amount  ex* 
pended  by  the  different  western  cities  for  each  child  in  average 
daily  attendance  at  school,  here  based  on  figures  collected  and 
published  by  the  U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Education,  also  con- 
firms the  above  estimate  as  to  the  need  for  large  additional 
funds  to  maintain  properly  the  present  schools. 


310 


SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

TABLE  NO.  53. 


MAINTENANCE  COST  PER  PUPIL  IN  AVERAGE  DAILY 
ATTENDANCE. 


CITY 

Cost  per  Pupil  In 
average  dally  attendance 

1 

Tacoma,  Wash.   . 

$43  92 

? 

Salt  Lake  City,  Utah  .  . 

44  81 

3 

San  Francisco,  Cal  

44.86 

4 

Denver,  Colo 

48  07 

5 

San  Jose,  Cal.   .  .  . 

44  86 

f> 

Portland,  Ore  

49  95 

7 

Oakland    Cal  

52.33 

8 

Colorado  Springs,  Colo  

52.65 

9 

Spokane  \Vash               .    .    . 

54  94 

10 

San  Diego,  Cal  

59.90 

11 

Seattle,  Wash  

60.50 

T 

Berkeley  Cal 

62  20 

IS 

Butte    Mont     

63.45 

14 

Sacramento,  Cal  

64.75 

15 

Los  Angeles    Cal 

68  03 

16 

Pasadena   Cal    . 

86  87 

Average  for  the  group  

$55.23 

Median  for  the  group 

52  65 

From  this  table  it  will  be  seen  that  Salt  Lake  City  is  next 
to  the  lowest  for  all  western  cities  in  the  amount  spent  per 
pupil,  and  much  below  both  the  median  and  the  average  for 
the  group.  The  difference  of  $7.84  below  the  median,  for  the 
18,367  pupils  in  the  schools  during  1914-15,  would  require  an 
increase  of  $143,997  merely  to  bring  the  city's  expenditures 
up  to  the  middle  point  of  expenses  for  western  cities.  To 
bring  the  city  up  to  the  average  western  city  in-  expenditures 
would  require  $191,384  increase. 

Wealth  and  tax  rates.  There  still  remains  to  be  consid- 
ered the  real  wealth  of  the  city,  and  the  tax  rate  required  to 
produce  the  median  rate  of  43  cents  for  each  1  per  cent  of  the 
school  population  in  'Salt  Lake  City,  and  in  other  western 
cities.  Taking  now  the  actual  wealth  of  each  western  city,  as 


THE    FINANCIAL   PROBLEM. 


311 


shown  in  Table  No.  6,  ins  Chapter  I,  and  the  desirable  per 
capita  support  for  schools  at  the  western  median  figure  of  43 
cents  for  each  1  per  cent  of  the  school  population,  we  get,  by 
divisions,  the  next  table.  This  shows  the  actual  wealth  in 
each  city  upon  which  each  dollar  of  the  tax  for  schools  must 
be  raised,  and  the  rate  of  tax  per  $100  of  actual  wealth  neces- 
sary to  raise  this  median  sum. 


TABLE   NO.   54. 

TAX  KATES,  BASED  ON  ACTUAL  WEALTH,  NECESSARY 

TO  PRODUCE  ESTIMATED  PER  CAPITA 

SUPPORT  FOR  SCHOOLS. 


CITY 

Actual 
Wealth 
per  capita 

Desirable 
per  capita 
support  for 
schools  at 
$.43  for 
each  1% 
school 
population 

Actual  wealth 
for  each 
dollar  of 
estimated 
per  capita 
support 

Rate  of  tax 
on  each  $100. 
of  actual 
wealth  nec- 
cessary  to 
produce 
estimate 

1 

Butte  Mont       

$  795.88 

$6.49 

$122.62 

$.814 

2 

Denver,  Colo  

1126.50 

6.54 

172.25 

.58 

3. 
4 

Colorado  Springs,  Colo.  . 
San  Jose   Cal    

1202.31 
1081.02 

6.88 
5.93 

174.75 
182.30 

.572 
.546 

5 

Tacoma  Vv^ash 

1237  22 

6.54 

189.17 

.527 

6. 

7 

Salt  Lake  City,  Utah  
Berkeley   Cal    

1683.52 
1371.13 

7.96 
6.32 

211.50 
216.95 

.473 
.461 

s 

Oakland    Cal 

1477.92 

6.06 

243.88 

.41 

9 

Spokane   Wash        

1666.12 

6.24 

267.01 

.375 

10 

Seattle  Wash  

1602.77 

5.38 

297.90 

.335 

11 

Pasadena    Cal          

1791.41 

5.84 

306.75 

.326 

12 

Los  Angeles    Cal 

1930.87 

5.59 

345.41 

.289 

13 

Sacramento    Cal    

1796.60 

5.20 

345.50 

.289 

14 

1924.44 

5.16 

372.95 

.269 

IK 

San  Diego  Cal 

2596.00 

5.76 

450.69 

.222 

16. 

San  Francisco,  Cal  

2561.82 

5.12 

500.35 

.20 

Average  for  the  group  .  . 
Median  for  the  group  .  . 

$1630.85 
1634.45 

$6.06 
6.00 

$281.25 
255.44 

.405 
.397 

It  is  here  that  the  large  per  capita  wealth  of  Salt  Lake 
City  tells.  Were  the  city  as  poor  as  Butte,  it  would  require 
a  tax  of  over  one  dollar;  had  the  city  as  few  children  as  Port- 
land, the  tax  would  be  reduced  to  a  trifle  over  30  cents.  It  is 
very  evident  that  Salt  Lake  City  can  afford  large  families. 


312 


SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 


0 


TAX      RATE,  IN    CENTS, 
10  ^0  30  40 


GO 


I  SAN  FRANCISCO 
2.  PORTLAND 

3  SACRAMLNTO, 

4  SEATTLE 

5  L03ANGLLLS 

6  SAN  DIEGO 

7  PASADENA 
Z  SAN  JOSE 

9  OAKLAND 

10  SPOKANL 

II  BERKELEY 
12  BUTTE 
13TACOMA 

14  DENVER 

15  COLORADO  SPR. 

16  AVFORALLCITIES 
17SALTUKECITY 
1&.YONKER5.NY 
19SCRANTTON.PA 
2.0FALLRIYER.MASS. 


FIG.  46.     TAX  RATE  IN  CENTS  ON  EACH  $100  OP  REAL 

WEALTH  WHICH  WOULD  BE  REQUIRED  FOR 

PROPER  MAINTENANCE  IN  SALT  LAKE 

CITY,    IF   THE   PERCENTAGE    OF 

CHILDREN  WERE  THE  SAME 

AS  IN  THE  OTHER  CITIES 

OF  THE  TABLE. 

Figure  46  shows  clearly  how  the  tax  rate  for  schools  must 
increase  proportionally  to  the  number  of  children  of  school 
age  in  the  population.  The  figures  and  lines  of  this  chart  give 
the  rate  of  tax  for  school  support  which  would  be  required,  in 


THE    FINANCIAL    PROBLEM.  313 

Salt  Lake  City,  to  provide  merely  the  median  rate  of  43  cents 
for  each  1  per  cent  of  school  population,  if  the  city  had  the 
same  percentage  of  children  in  its  population  as  have  the  dif- 
ferent cities  given  on  the  figure.  That  is,  if  Salt  Lake  City  had 
as  few  children  as  Portland,  which  is  in  many  respects  a  com- 
parable city,  the  tax  required  would  be  but  $.307  on  the  $100, 
instead  of  $.473 ;  if  it  had  as  many  children  as  Fall  River,  the 
tax  required  would  be  $.'522. 

Need  for  a  larger  school  tax.  A  tax  rate  for  schools  of 
$.473  per  $100  of  real  valuation  is  equivalent  to  a  tax  rate  of 
$1.3514  on  the  present  assessed  valuation  of  35  per  cent.  This 
is  the  same  as  13.5  mills,  as  taxes  are  usually  calculated  in 
Utah.  As  the  money  received  from  state  and  county  sources 
is  worth  somewhere  near  3.5  mills,  the  total  local  tax  desir- 
able for  proper  maintenance  is  about  10  mills.  Under  the  new 
state  law  requiring  property  to  be  assessed  at  its  full  value, 
beginning  with  1916,  the  maintenance  rate  should  not  be  less 
than  4  mills.  The  legislature,  however,  in  ordering  assess- 
ments advanced  to  full  value,  has  at  the  same  time  cut  the 
rate  of  tax  allowed  proportionally.  This  leaves  the  schools 
with  two  mills  in  place  of  their  present  six.  That  the  assessor 
will  treble  the  assessed  valuation  of  the  property  in  Salt  Lake 
City  may  be  seriously  doubted.  If  valuations  are  actually 
increased  two  and  one-half  times  the  result  will  be  as  satis- 
factory as  has  usually  taken  place  elsewhere. 

With  a  tax  rate  for  maintenance  already  wholly  inade- 
quate, and  the  new  rate  reduced  in  proportion  to  the  expected 
increase  in  valuations,  just  what  the  schools  of  Salt  Lake  City 
are  to  do  in  the  immediate  future  is  rather  hard  to  see.  It 
looks  as  though  even  more  serious  cramping  and  crowding  of 
the  schools,  and  the  employment  of  more  cheap  and  inex- 
perienced teachers,  with  little  or  no  new  development,  would 
be  the  inevitable  result.  At  the  present  time  the  schools  of 
Salt  Lake  City  can  hardly  claim  a  high  place  in  any  single 
phase  of  recent  public  school  development,  and  largely  because 
the  city  school  authorities  have  had  so  little  money  with  which 


3U  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

to  develop  the  system.  It  has  taken  all  of  the  money  to  main- 
tain the  traditional  type  of  school  and  teach  the  so-called  fun- 
damental school  subjects.  Where  the  schools  will  be  in  a  de- 
cade more  of  the  present  policy  of  pinching  to  make  both  ends 
meet  is  not  hard  to  guess.  The  drawing  on  the  opposite  page 
shows  that  for  years  the  schools  have  not  kept  up  their  ex- 
pense for  maintenance  proportionally  with  the  increase  in 
pupils,  and  that  a  material  part  of  the  recent  increase  in  ex- 
penses has  been  due  to  rapidly  increasing  charges  for  bond 
interest  and  expenditures  for  buildings  and  sites.  The  ex- 
penditures for  annual  maintenance,  represented  'by  the  space 
in  white,  has  hardly  widened  in  proportion  to  the  increase  in 
membership  in  the  schools.  Under  the  present  tax  limit  neces- 
sary educational  increases  are  difficult,  while  the  desirable 
new  features  and  additions  recommended  in  this  report  are 
not  financially  possible. 

The  remedy  a  legislative  one.  The  trouble,  however,  does 
not  lie  with  the  people  of  Salt  Lake  City.  They  are  willing 
enough  to  educate  their  children  properly.  Recent  editorials 
in  the  leading  newspapers  regarding  the  schools  and  their  sup- 
port would  lead  one  to  feel  that  they,  the  people,  are  willing 
to  go  even  further  and  support  the  schools  even  generously. 
It  is  the  people  of  Utah,  as  represented  in  the  state  legislature, 
who  stand  in  the  way.  This  is  done  by  imposing  a  mainten- 
ance tax-limit  so  small  as  to  make  really  good  schools  for  the 
future  entirely  out  of  the  question.  This  is  neither  justice  nor 
sound  public  policy.  Public  education  is  the  great  means  for 
improving  government  and  advancing  intelligence.  If  any 
community  desires  to  provide  better  schools  for  its  children, 
and  is  willing  and  able  to  do  so  by  local  taxation,  it  isrexceed- 
ingly  short-sighted  for  the  state  to  stand  in  its  way  and  prevent 
its  doing  so. 

That  the  people  of  Salt  Lake  City  are  able  to  pay  a  much 
larger  local  school  tax  for  maintenance  has  been  shown.  That 
they  must  provide  from  25  per  cent  to  50  per  cent  more 
schools  and  teachers  than  the  average  western  city  has  also 


Expenditures         § 


FIG.  47.     INCREASE  IN  EXPENSES  AND  CHILDREN  IN 
SCHOOLS  COMPARED. 


316  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

been  shown.  That  the  people  are  willing  to  pay  more  is  con- 
fidently believed.  Such  being  the  case,  the  legislature  ought 
to  enlarge  materially  the  local  tax  permitted  to  be  levied. 
Under  the  new  assessment  law  a  tax  of  at  least  4  mills,  clearly 
for  maintenance,  should  'be  provided,  and  if  interest  and  sink- 
ing funds  are  to  continue  to  be  paid  from  this,  the  rate  should 
be  5  mills.  In  but  few  cities  are  bond  interest  and  sinking 
funds  required  to  be  paid  from  the  annual  maintenance  rates. 
It  would  be  better  to  shift  these  items  to  the  building  tax, 
leaving  the  maintenance  fund  clear  for  school  support. 

With  the  many  pressing  building  needs,  both  for  new 
buildings  to  keep  up  with  the  growth  of  the  city  and  for  the 
alteration  and  gradual  replacement  of  rooms  not  now  fit  for 
use  as  school  rooms,  as  is  pointed  out  at  some  length  in  Chap- 
ter X,  an  annual  building  tax  of  2%  or  3  mills,  under  the  new 
assessment  basis,  is  not  too  high.  'Salt  Lake  City  needs  many 
new  school  rooms,  and  so  far  as  possible  these  ought  to  be 
paid  for  as  built.  In  a  city  as  wealthy  as  this  one  the  annual 
interest  charge  on  'bonds  ought  not  to  be  increased  where  it 
can  be  avoided.  The  city's  interest  bill  is  relatively  high  now. 

There  can  of  course  be  no  relief  from  present  conditions 
until  the  legislature  gives  the  city  larger  freedom  to  spend 
what  it  has  in  its  own  pockets,  and  is  willing  to  spend  if  per- 
mitted to  do  so.  The  enactment  of  a  new  governing  school 
law,  embodying  the  main  lines  of  the  law  suggested  in  the 
Appendix  to  this  report,  would  solve  the  difficulty  entirely 
and  enable  the  city's  educational  system  to  advance  to  the 
place  it  ought  by  right  to  occupy. 

Distribution  of  expenditure.  But  one  question  of  a  fi- 
nancial nature  still  remains  to  be  considered,  and  that  is  are 
the  present  expenditures  properly  proportioned.  Tabulating 
for  the  same  sixteen  western  cities  previously  used  we  get  the 
following  table. 


THE    FINANCIAL    PROBLEM. 

TABLE  NO.  55. 


317 


DISTRIBUTION   OF  SCHOOL  EXPENDITURES  IN  SALT 

LAKE  CITY,  COMPARED  WITH  SIXTEEN 

OTHER  WESTERN  CITIES'. 


ITEMS 

Perc 

entage  < 

)f  total 

spent  f< 

3r  each 

In  Salt 
Lake  City 

Average 
City 

Median 

Highest 

Lowest 

1.     For  administration 

3  0% 

3  3% 

Q    ftO/n 

4  fi^i 

1  8<%l 

2.     For   supervision    

9  9 

9  1 

9  7 

15  3 

3  4 

3.     For  teachers'  salaries   

64.1 

67  2 

64  8 

71  6 

60  0 

4.     For  janitors  and  labor 

5  5 

5  9 

5  5 

10  8 

4  2 

5.     For  text-books  and  school 
supplies  

7  9 

5  4 

4  8 

11  9 

1  6 

6.     For  fuel,  water,  power  and 
other  supplies 

3  4 

3  7 

3  5 

8  0 

1  2 

7.     For  maintenance  and  repair 
of  plant  

5.8 

6.0 

5.7 

12  1 

3  1 

8.     For  health  conservation  .  .  . 
9      For  miscellaneous 

0.2 
0  2 

0.4 
0  5 

0.2 
1  9 

L  .   U 

1.2 

2  7 

.0 

o 

This  table  answers  the  question.  Excepting  for  text-books 
and  supplies,  Salt  Lake  City's  distribution  of  expenditures 
follows  closely  the  average  for  the  sixteen  cities,  and  is  also 
close  to  the  median.  The  higher  percentage  for  text-books  and 
supplies  comes  from  the  free  text-books  supplied  by  the  city. 
In  all  California  cities  these  are  supplied  by  the  state,  while  in 
Washington,  Oregon,  and  Montana,  the  pupils  furnish  their 
own  books. 

Distribution  of  expenditures  for  the  next  two  years.  For 
the  next  two  years,  until  some  adequate  legislative  relief  can 
be  obtained,  it  is  important  that  the  board  of  education  devote 
as  large  a  proportion  of  its  funds  as  is  possible  to  the  first 
three  items  of  the  table.  All  repairs  which  the  educational 
department  does  not  certify  as  absolutely  necessary  should 
wait,  and  all  expenses  not  necessary  for  instruction  should  be 
curtailed.  Even  then  there  may  not  be  sufficient  funds  to 
maintain  the  schools  during  1916-17  for  longer  than  nine  and  a 


318  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

half  months,  or  possibly  nine.  The  people  of  Salt  Lake  City 
as  a  body  scarcely  realize  how  inadequately  their  schools  are 
supported,  or  what  a  handicap  they  labor  under  by  reason  of 
the  restrictions  laid  upon  them  by  the  laws  of  the  state. 


SUGGESTED    NEW    LAW.  319 

APPENDIX  A. 

A    SUGGESTED    LAW   FOR    THE    MANAGEMENT    OF    THE    SALT 
LAKE  CITY  SCHOOL  DISTRICT. 

The  following  is  a  suggestion  for  a  new  law  for  the  Salt  Lake  City 
school  district,  based  on  the  needs  presented  in  this  report.  For 
the  reasons  for  the  different  recommendations,  made  in  the  fol- 
lowing suggested  law,  the  reader  is  referred  back  to  the  different 
chapters  of  the  report  itself. 

An  Act,  Providing  for  the  Organization  of  Schools  in  Cities  of  the 
First  Class. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Utah: 

Section  1.  Sections  amended.  That  Sections  1892  to  1961,  in- 
clusive, Compiled  Laws  of  Utah,  in  so  far  as  such  relate  to  the  gov- 
ernment of  schools  in  cities  of  the  first  class,  unless  otherwise  herein 
provided,  are  amended  to  read  as  follows: 

Section  2. — Schools  in  cities  of  the  first  class.  Each  city  of  the 
first  class,  and  all  territory  which  shall  hereafter  be  added  thereto, 
shall  constitute  one  school  district,  and  shall  be  under  the  control  of 
a  board  of  education  to  be  elected  as  herein  provided,  separate  and 
apart  from  the  counties  in  which  the  cities  are  located.  All  public 
schools  and  property  shall  be  under  the  direction  and  control  of  the 
board  of  education  for  such  city,  and  the  schools  therein  shall  be 
free  to  all  children  of  the  city  between  the  ages  of  five  and  twenty- 
one,  and  to  such  other  persons  as  the  board  of  education  may  decide 
to  admit. 

Section  3. — The  board  of  education;  how  constituted.  The  board 
of  education  in  each  city  of  the  first  class  shall  consist  of  five  mem- 
bers, to  be  elected  from  the  city  at  large,  one  each  year  on  the  first 
Wednesday  in  December,  and  for  a  five-year  term;  provided,  however, 
that  of  boards  of  education  in  cities  of  the  first  class  in  existence 
when  this  act  takes  effect,  the  five  members  which  have  the  longest 
remaining  time  to  serve  shall  constitute  the  new  boards  of  education, 
and  the  five  who  have  the  shortest  time  to  serve  shall  pass  out  of  the 
office  the  day  this  act  takes  effect;  and  provided  further,  that  the  five 
members  who  remain  shall  forthwith  proceed  by  lot  to  so  provide  for 
the  termination  of  their  terms  of  office  that  the  term  of  one  member 
shall  expire  at  the  close  of  the  year  in  which  this  act  takes  effect, 
and  one  other  at  the  close  of  each  year  thereafter  for  the  following 
four  years.  All  elections  thereafter  shall  be  for  five-year  terms  ex- 


320  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

cept  in  the  case  of  vacancies  caused  by  the  death,  resignation,  or 
removal  of  a  member  from  office,  in  which  case  elections  shall  be 
for  the  unexpired  term.  The  board  of  education  shall  fill,  by  appoint- 
ment until  the  next  annual  school  election,  any  vacancies  occuring  in 
its  own  membership.  All  members  elected  shall  qualify  previous 
to,  and  take  their  seats  at  the  first  regular  meeting  in  January  next 
after  their  election,  and  shall  serve  until  their  successors  are  duly 
elected  and  qualified.  Each  member  shall  be  and  remain  a  qualified 
registered  voter  of  the  city,-  and  shall  receive  no  compensation  for  his 
services. 

Section  4.  Conduct  of  Elections.  Elections  for  members  of  the 
board  shall  be  called  and  conducted,  and  the  canvass  of  returns  shall 
be  made,  and  the  qualification  of  electors  shall  be  as  provided  in  the 
general  registration  and  election  laws,  except  as  herein  provided. 
There  must  be  at  least  one  poling  place  in  each  municipal  ward, 
which  may  be  at  a  schoolhouse  or  schoolhouses  to  be  designated  by 
the  board  of  education.  It  shall  not  be  necessary  to  file  certificates 
of  nomination  of  candidates,  nor  to  publish  a  list  of  nominations. 
Appointments  of  judges  of  election  shall  be  made  by  the  board  of 
education,  at  any  convenient  time  prior  to  the  day  of  election.  Any 
form  of  ballot  which  is  simple  and  plain  and  which  conveys  the  in- 
tention of  the  voter  may  be  used.  In  case  a  member  is  to  be  elected  to 
fill  out  an  unexpired  term,  as  well  as  one  for  the  full  term,  the  ballots 
shall  specify  the  term  which  each  person  voted  for  is  to  serve.  The 
ballot  shall  be  folded,  and  no  designating  mark  or  device  of  any  kind 
shall  appear  on  the  outside  thereof,  and  shall  be  deposited  in  the 
ballot  box  by  the  presiding  judge  of  election,  in  the  presence  of  the 
voter,  on  the  name  of  the  proposed  voter  being  found  on  the  registry 
list,  and  on  all  challenges  to  such  vote  being  decided  in  favor  of 
such  voter.  Boards  of  education  shall  exercise  all  such  powers  rela- 
tive to  school  elections  in  their  respective  cities  as  are  conferred 
upon  the  boards  of  county  commissioners  in  other  elections,  so  far  as 
conformable  with  this  title. 

Section  5.  Organization  of  board;  executive  officers.  The  mem- 
bers elected  as  herein  provided,  before  entering  upon  the  discharge 
of  their  duties,  shall  take  and  subscribe  the  oath  of  office.  At  the  first 
regular  meeting  in  January  of  each  year  each  board  shall  reorganize 
by  electing  one  of  their  number  as  president,  and  one  other  member 
as  vice  president. 

Each  board  shall  also  appoint  a  superintendent  of  schools,  a 
clerk  and  purchasing  agent,  a  superintendent  of  buildings,  a  super- 
intendent of  attendance  and  census,  a  superintendent  of  health  work, 
and  a  treasurer,  and  may  appoint  such  other  officers  as  the  needs  of 


SUGGESTED    NEW    LAW.  32 L 

the  schools  shall  require;  provided  however,  that  all  such  officers  now 
employed  shall  continue  to  serve  for  the  terms  for  which  they  were 
originally  appointed,  and  thereafter  such  officers  shall  be  appointed 
for  two-year  terms,  unless  otherwise  provided  in  this  act.  Any  officer 
appointed  by  the  board  may,  however,  be  removed  at  any  time,  for 
cause,  by  a  four-fifths  vote  of  the  board.  Their  salaries  shall  be  as 
fixed  by  the  board,  but  a  salary  once  fixed  cannot  be  reduced  during 
the  term  of  office  of  any  officer. 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  president,  or  in  case  of  his  absence 
the  vice  president,  to  preside  at  all  meetings  of  the  board,  to  appoint 
any  necessary  special  committees,  and  to  sign  all  warrants  ordered 
by  the  board  of  education  to  be  drawn  upon  the  treasurer  for  school 
moneys.  It  shall  be  the  chief  function  of  the  board  of  education  to 
hear  reports,  settle  matters  of  school  policy,  decide  upon  extensions 
and  improvements,  appropriate  funds,  and  adopt  rules  and  regulations 
for  the  government  of  its  executive  officers;  it  shall  be  the  chief  func- 
tion of  the  executive  officers  appointed  by  the  board  of  education  to 
execute  the  policies  decided  upon  and  to  work  in  accordance  with  the 
rules  and  regulations  adopted  for  their  government  by  the  board. 

Section  6.  The  superintendent  of  schools.  The  board  of  educa- 
tion shall  appoint  a  superintendent  of  schools,  for  a  four-year  term, 
who  shall  be  an  educator  of  rank  and  experience,  and  who  shall  be  the 
chief  executive  officer  of  the  board  of  education.  He  shall  have  super- 
visory and  co-ordinating  oversight  of  the  work  of  all  other  department 
officers,  shall  be  notified  of  and  be  expected  to  attend  all  regular  and 
special  meetings  of  the  board  of  education,  or  any  special  commit- 
tees of  the  same  which  may  have  been  created, — except  when  his 
position,  services,  or  salary  is  under  consideration, — and  shall  have 
the  right  to  speak  on  any  question  under  consideration,  but  no  right 
to  vote.  He  shall  have  the  exclusive  right  to  nominate  for  election 
the  superintendent  of  buildings,  the  superintendent  of  attendance  and 
census,  the  superintendent  of  health  work,  and  all  assistant  super- 
intendents, special  supervisors,  principals,  and  regular  and  special 
teachers,  and  shall  assign  to  them  their  duties.  He  shall  also  have 
exclusive  control  of  the  outlining  and  directing  of  the  instruction  in 
the  schools.  For  incompetency,  immorality,  or  insubordination,  he 
may  remove  any  teacher,  principal,  or  supervisor  from  office,  and 
shall  report  his  action  to  the  board. 

Section  7.  The  clerk  and  purchasing  agent.  The  clerk  and  pur- 
chasing agent  shall  be  appointed  for  two-year  terms,  and  before  en- 
tering on  the  duties  of  his  office  he  shall  give  a  bond  running  to  the 
board  of  education,  in  such  sum  as  the  board  may  require,  conditioned 
on  the  faithful  performances  of  the  duties  of  his  office.  It  shall  be 


322  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT 

his  duty  to  attend  all  meetings  of  the  board  and  its  committees,  and 
to  act  as  the  secretary;  to  keep  an  accurate  journal  of  its  proceedings, 
and  have  the  care  and  custody  of  the  seal,  records,  and  papers  not 
otherwise  provided  for;  to  countersign  all  warrants  drawn  upon  the 
treasurer  by  order  of  the  board;  to  keep  an  accurate  account  of  all 
moneys  paid  to  the  treasurer  on  account  of  said  board,  and  from  what 
source  received,  and  all  moneys  paid  on  orders  drawn  on  the  treasurer 
by  order  of  said  board;  and  to  prepare  and  submit  to  the  board  an 
annual  statement,  under  oath,  of  the  receipts  and  disbursements  dur- 
ing the  year  ending  June  thirtieth,  showing: 

1.  The  amount  on  hand  at  the  date  of  the  last  report; 

2.  The  amount  of  sinking  fund  and  how  invested; 

3.  The  moneys  paid  out,  and  for  what  paid; 

4.  The  balance  of  schools  money  on  hand; 

5.  The  number,  date,  and  amount  of  every  bond  issued  and  re- 
deemed under  the  authority  herein  given,  and  the  amount  received 
and  paid  therefor. 

The  clerk  shall  also  act  as  purchasing  agent  for  the  board,  unless 
the  board  should  decide  to  divide  the  duties  and  appoint  a  purchasing 
agent,  and  he  shall  buy,  under  direction  of  the  board,  the  superin- 
tendent of  schools,  or  the  executive  officers  concerned,  all  materials 
and  supplies  needed  by  the  school  department. 

Section  8.  The  treasurer.  The  treasurer  shall  give  a  satisfactory 
bond  running  to  the  board  of  education,  in  such  amount  as  the  board 
may  require,  conditional  on  the  faithful  performance  of  the  duties  of 
his  office.  He  shall  be  the  custodian  of  all  moneys  belonging  to  the 
corporation,  and  responsible  upon  his  bond  for  all  moneys  received 
by  him  as  treasurer.  He  shall  prepare  and  submit  in  writing  a 
monthly  report  of  the  receipts  and  disbursements  of  his  office,  and 
pay  out  school  moneys  only  upon  a  warrant  signed  by  the  president, 
or  in  his  absence  or  disability,  by  the  vice-president,  countersigned 
by  the  clerk,  and  shall  perform  such  other  duties  as  the  board  may 
require. 

Section  9.  The  superintendent  of  buildings.  The  superintendent 
of  buildings  shall  be  a  person  who  has  been  trained  as  an  engineer, 
and  shall  have  charge  of  the  maintenance  and  repair  of  the  school 
plant,  under  the  direction  of  the  superintendent  of  schools.  All  re- 
pairs and  alterations  must  first  be  approved  by  the  superintendent  of 
schools.  The  superintendent  of  buildings  shall  employ  all  janitors, 
mechanics,  and  laborers  as  needed,  and  shall  direct  them  as  to  their 
duties. 

Section  10.  The  superintendent  of  attendance  and  census.  The 
superintendent  of  attendance  and  census  shall  have  charge  of  the 


SUGGESTED    NEW    LAW.  323 

enforcement  of  all  laws  relating  to  the  attendance  of  children  at 
school,  the  granting  of  working  permits  to  children  from  whom  such 
permits  are  required,  and  the  taking  and  maintenance  of  detailed  and 
accurate  records  as  to  the  age,  nationality,  whereabouts,  physical  con- 
dition, and  attendance  or  non-attendance  at  school  of  every  child 
between  the  ages  of  five  and  sixteen  in  the  city,  and  shall  supply  such 
information  in  duplicate  form  to  the  schools  of  the  city.  From  the 
card  records  on  file  the  annual  school  census,  required  of  all  districts 
annually  in  July,  shall  be  compiled  and  forwarded  to  the  state  super- 
intendent of  public  instruction. 

In  cities  of  the  first  class  all  children  within  the  compulsory 
school  ages,  and  not  exempted  from  attendance  by  law,  shall  be  ex- 
pected to  attend  school  every  day  the  public  schools  are  in  session, 
and  to  provide  for  the  proper  enforcement  of  this  law  all  private  and 
parochial  schools  shall  make  reports  as  to  children  within  the  com- 
pulsory school  ages  attending  their  schools,  and  the  public  school  at- 
tendance officers  shall  in  turn  enforce  the  attendance  of  pupils  en- 
rolled in  private  and  parochial  schools. 

Section  11.  The  superintendent  of  health  work.  Where  the 
health  work  is  efficiently  conducted  by  the  board  of  health,  the  board 
of  education  may  permit  it  to  remain  under  such  jurisdiction,  but  at 
any  time  it  may  co-operate  with  the  board  of  health  in  further  de- 
veloping the  work,  or  take  over  the  work  in  part  or  in  whole.  In  any 
case  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  board  of  education  to  see  that  an 
efficient  school  health  service  is  provided  for  the  schools  of  the  city, 
with  nurses,  physicians,  and  such  specialists  as  may  be  needed  prop- 
erly to  carry  on  the  work. 

Section  12.  Annual  report.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  board  of 
education  in  each  city  of  the  first  class  to  see  that  an  annual  report, 
covering  the  operations  of  the  schools,  the  finances,  and  the  operations 
of  the  different  departments  or  divisions  of  the  school  system,  with 
sufficient  statistical  matter  properly  to  illustrate  the  progress  of  the 
schools,  is  compiled  and  printed  for  distribution  among  the  people  of 
the  city.  The  superintendent  of  schools  shall  report  on  the  educa- 
tional work,  progress,  and  needs  of  the  schools,  and  the  other  execu- 
tive officers  shall  report  through  him  as  to  the  work  of  their  depart-' 
ments. 

Section  13.  Annual  budget.  Each  year  the  board  of  education 
in  each  city  of  the  first  class  shall  cause  to  be  compiled,  on  or  before 
the  first  day  of  May  of  each  year,  a  detailed  budget  covering  the 
needs  of  the  schools  for  the  school  year  commencing  on  the  first  day 
of  July  next  thereafter,  in  all  of  their  departments.  When  prepared 


324  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

this  budget  shall  be  submitted  to  the  board  of  education  for  its  ap- 
proval. The  budget  shall  show  the  amounts  necessary  to  carry  on 
the  school  system  as  it  is,  the  amounts  needed  for  necessary  addi- 
tions, and  the  amounts  desired  for  extensions  or  expansions  of  the 
school  system.  The  budget  shall  also  be  classified  so  as  to  show  the 
needs  for  each  department,  and  the  amounts  needed  for  maintenance 
of  the  schools,  maintenance  and  repair  of  plant,  additional  sites  and 
buildings  or  additions  to  existing  sites  or  buildings,  bond  interest  and 
sinking  fund  requirements,  and  such  other  items  as  the  board  of  edu- 
cation may  direct. 

Section  14.  Annual  school  tax.  When  the  budget  has  been  ap- 
proved by  the  board  of  education,  the  amounts  estimated  to  be  re- 
ceived from  state  and  county  school  taxes  shall  first  be  deducted,  and 
the  board  of  education,  through  its  proper  officers,  shall  forthwith 
cause  the  same  to  be  certified  to  the  officers  charged  with  the  assess- 
ment and  collection  of  taxes  for  general  county  purposes  in  the 
county  in  which  the  city  is  situated,  and  such  officers,  after  having 
extended  the  valuation  of  property  on  the  assessment  rolls,  shall  levy 
such  per  cent  as  shall,  as  nearly  as  may  be,  raise  the  amount  re- 
quired by  the  board,  which  levy  shall  be  uniform  on  all  property  with- 
in the  said  city  as  returned  on  the  assessment  roll;  and  the  said 
county  officers  are  hereby  authorized  and  required  to  place  the  same 
on  the  tax  roll.  Said  taxes  shall  be  collected  by  the  county  treasurer 
as  other  taxes  are  collected,  but  without  additional  compensation  for 
assessing  and  collecting,  and  he  shall  pay  to  the  treasurer  of  said 
board,  promptly  as  collected,  who  shall  hold  the  same  subject  to  the 
order  of  the  board  o^  education;  provided,  that  the  tax  for  the  support 
and  maintenance  of  such  school  system  in  cities  of  the  first  class  shall 
not  exceed,  for  annual  maintenance,  five  mills  on  the  dollar  in  any 
one  year  upon  the  taxable  property  of  said  city,  of  which  at  least 
sixty  per  cent  shall  not  be  used  otherwise  than  for  the  payment  of 
teachers  and  supervisory  officers;  nor  three  mills  on  the  dollar  in  any 
one  year  for  repairs  or  extensions  of  the  school  plant,  new  sites  or 
buildings,  and  bond  interest  and  sinking  fund  or  bond  redemption 
requirements. 

Section  15.  Other  powers.  Boards  of  education  in  cities  of  the 
first  class  shall  exercise  all  rights  and  powers  and  be  charged  with 
all  responsibilities  and  duties  now  by  law  given  to  boards  of  educa- 
tion in  cities  of  the  first  and  second  class,  except  in  the  matter  of  the 
examination  and  certification  of  teachers  as  provided  for  in  Sections 
1916  to  1926  inclusive  of  the  compiled  laws  of  the  state,  except  in  so 
far  as  such  may  have  been  amended  by  the  provisions  of  this  Act. 


SUGGESTED    NEW    LAW.  323 

enforcement  of  all  laws  relating  to  the  attendance  of  children  at 
school,  the  granting  of  working  permits  to  children  from  whom  such 
permits  are  required,  and  the  taking  and  maintenance  of  detailed  and 
accurate  records  as  to  the  age,  nationality,  whereabouts,  physical  con- 
dition, and  attendance  or  non-attendance  at  school  of  every  child 
between  the  ages  of  five  and  sixteen  in  the  city,  and  shall  supply  such 
information  in  duplicate  form  to  the  schools  of  the  city.  From  the 
card  records  on  file  the  annual  school  census,  required  of  all  districts 
annually  in  July,  shall  be  compiled  and  forwarded  to  the  state  super- 
intendent of  public  instruction. 

In  cities  of  the  first  class  all  children  within  the  compulsory 
school  ages,  and  not  exempted  from  attendance  by  law,  shall  be  ex- 
pected to  attend  school  every  day  the  public  schools  are  in  session, 
and  to  provide  for  the  proper  enforcement  of  this  law  all  private  and 
parochial  schools  shall  make  reports  as  to  children  within  the  com- 
pulsory school  ages  attending  their  schools,  and  the  public  school  at- 
tendance officers  shall  in  turn  enforce  the  attendance  of  pupils  en- 
rolled in  private  and  parochial  schools. 

Section  11.  The  superintendent  of  health  work.  WThere  the 
health  work  is  efficiently  conducted  by  the  board  of  health,  the  board 
of  education  may  permit  it  to  remain  under  such  jurisdiction,  but  at 
any  time  it  may  co-operate  with  the  board  of  health  in  further  de- 
veloping the  work,  or  take  over  the  work  in  part  or  in  whole.  In  any 
case  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  board  of  education  to  see  that  an 
efficient  school  health  service  is  provided  for  the  schools  of  the  city, 
with  nurses,  physicians,  and  such  specialists  as  may  be  needed  prop- 
erly to  carry  on  the  work. 

Section  12.  Annual  report.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  board  of 
education  in  each  city  of  the  first  class  to  see  that  an  annual  report, 
covering  the  operations  of  the  schools,  the  finances,  and  the  operations 
of  the  different  departments  or  divisions  of  the  school  system,  with 
sufficient  statistical  matter  properly  to  illustrate  the  progress  of  the 
schools,  is  compiled  and  printed  for  distribution  among  the  people  of 
the  city.  The  superintendent  of  schools  shall  report  on  the  educa- 
tional work,  progress,  and  needs  of  the  schools,  and  the  other  execu- 
tive officers  shall  report  through  him  as  to  the  work  of  their  depart- 
ments. 

Section  13.  Annual  budget.  Each  year  the  board  of  education 
in  each  city  of  the  first  class  shall  cause  to  be  compiled,  on  or  before 
the  first  day  of  May  of  each  year,  a  detailed  budget  covering  the 
needs  of  the  schools  for  the  school  year  commencing  on  the  first  day 
of  July  next  thereafter,  in  all  of  their  departments.  When  prepared 


324  SCHOOL  SURVEY  REPORT. 

this  budget  shall  he  submitted  to  the  board  of  education  for  its  ap- 
proval. The  budget  shall  show  the  amounts  necessary  to  carry  on 
the  school  system  as  it  is,  the  amounts  needed  for  necessary  addi- 
tions, and  the  amounts  desired  for  extensions  or  expansions  of  the 
school  system.  The  budget  shall  also  be  classified  so  as  to  show  the 
needs  for  each  department,  and  the  amounts  needed  for  maintenance 
of  the  schools,  maintenance  and  repair  of  plant,  additional  sites  and 
buildings  or  additions  to  existing  sites  or  buildings,  bond  interest  and 
sinking  fund  requirements,  and  such  other  items  as  the  board  of  edu- 
cation may  direct. 

Section  14.  Annual  school  tax.  When  the  budget  has  been  ap- 
proved by  the  board  of  education,  the  amounts  estimated  to  be  re- 
ceived from  state  and  county  school  taxes  shall  first  be  deducted,  and 
the  board  of  education,  through  its  proper  officers,  shall  forthwith 
cause  the  same  to  be  certified  to  the  officers  charged  with  the  assess- 
ment and  collection  of  taxes  for  general  county  purposes  in  the 
county  in  which  the  city  is  situated,  and  such  officers,  after  having 
extended  the  valuation  of  property  on  the  assessment  rolls,  shall  levy 
such  per  cent  as  shall,  as  nearly  as  may  be,  raise  the  amount  re- 
quired by  the  board,  which  levy  shall  be  uniform  on  all  property  with- 
in the  said  city  as  returned  on  the  assessment  roll;  and  the  said 
county  officers  are  hereby  authorized  and  required  to  place  the  same 
on  the  tax  roll.  Said  taxes  shall  be  collected  by  the  county  treasurer 
as  other  taxes  are  collected,  but  without  additional  compensation  for 
assessing  and  collecting,  and  he  shall  pay  to  the  treasurer  of  said 
board,  promptly  as  collected,  who  shall  hold  the  same  subject  to  the 
order  of  the  board  of  education;  provided,  that  the  tax  for  the  support 
and  maintenance  of  such  school  system  in  cities  of  the  first  class  shall 
not  exceed,  for  annual  maintenance,  five  mills  on  the  dollar  in  any 
one  year  upon  the  taxable  property  of  said  city,  of  which  at  least 
sixty  per  cent  shall  not  be  used  otherwise  than  for  the  payment  of 
teachers  and  supervisory  officers;  nor  three  mills  on  the  dollar  in  any 
one  year  for  repairs  or  extensions  of  the  school  plant,  new  sites  or 
buildings,  and  bond  interest  and  sinking  fund  or  bond  redemption 
requirements. 

Section  15.  Other  powers.  Boards  of  education  in  cities  of  the 
first  class  shall  exercise  all  rights  and  powers  and  be  charged  with 
all  responsibilities  and  duties  now  by  law  given  to. boards  of  educa- 
tion in  cities  of  the  first  and  second  class,  except  in  the  matter  of  the 
pxamination  and  certification  of  teachers  as  provided  for  in  Sections 
1916  to  1926  inclusive  of  the  compiled  laws  of  the  state,  except  in  so 
far  as  such  may  have  been  amended  by  the  provisions  of  this  Act. 


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